Clash of the Elements Part 4: Uprising
by mewmaster93
Summary: In the final world, Riku finds himself drawn into the war between Skyworld and the Underworld Army, which causes him to join forces with the young angel Pit and the goddess Palutena. Fighting against the deities of Greek mythology may prove to be a challenge that not even the fabled Elemental Overlord can come out of alive, especially when the true enemy is not yet revealed...
1. Chapter 1

"_A long time ago, there existed two goddesses. One was the beautiful and caring goddess of light, Palutena. The other was the not-as-pretty and mean goddess of darkness, Medusa. One fostered the growth of humanity, while the other loathed humans and did everything in her power to ruin their lives. And I'm not talking about minor things like prank calling or putting graffiti on their houses. She ruined their crops, murdered them, and destroyed their homes."_

"_The brave and heroic Palutena was left with no choice but to battle against her opposite, rallying her army of Centurions against her…In what was a very easy battle, the mighty Palutena managed to apply a curse to Medusa that turned her into a monstrous Gorgon, after which she was banished to the Underworld, swearing revenge against the incredible Palutena and mankind for her defeat."_

"_It was many years before the world would see Medusa again, but this time around she had become the Mistress of the Underworld…And with an army of her own behind her, she was able to invade Skyworld, sealing poor, poor, pretty Palutena in stone and banishing all the angels away. But one angel managed to escape her revenge, and after braving both the Underworld and Skyworld he acquired the Three Sacred Treasures and fought against Medusa."_

"_Naturally, he was successful, and he rescued the gorgeous Palutena from her stone prison, earning her praise as a reward. And for a time, that was the last anyone ever saw of Medusa…" _

The story was finished being told with a rather foreboding remark, and the lady responsible for saying it lowered her pristine sapphire staff beside her hip while overlooking her audience of one. She was a tall, divine being with flowing green hair that extends almost to her feet, and she wore a gold laurel around the top of her head that complemented her hair color well. On her body was a simple-looking white dress with numerous gold ornaments, most noticeably the ones attached to her belt. Beside a gauntlet on her left arm was a prismatic shield, though it was hard to imagine her using it by her kind demeanor alone.

Her audience of one was an angel boy of average height and build. He has many tufts of brown hair, a white tunic decorated with red and gold hems on the bottom that is fastened on the shoulder by a single gold pin with a ruby-like gem embedded on it. He has bronze and gold cuffs on his wrists, a gold bracelet on his upper left arm, and another gold ring on his right thigh. Despite being an angel with wings, he stands on the ground with brown sandals that are decorated with crossing, beige bands. He had an eager smile on his face after the lady was done talking, but at the same time you could tell he was pondering something else.

"You know I like it when you tell me stories Lady Palutena, but umm…I was there during all of that, was there any reason why you brought it up again?" The boy questioned while leaning one fist against his chin and putting an innocent look on his face. Palutena smiled at the boy, telling him in an honest tone "Oh Pit, I wasn't telling YOU that story, you just happened to be here while I was."

Pit lowers his head and looks around curiously at the surrounding area, and even across the entire cloudy landscape of Skyworld he couldn't find a single other soul close by. Puzzled, he turns to face Palutena and asks her "Umm…Lady Palutena, I'm the only other person around." "It's better if you don't think too much about that Pit." Palutena replies without changing her expression in the slightest.

"Alright, if you say so…" Pit gives up on the matter just like that, showing just how much he trusted Palutena's words. With a nod of his head, the angel clenches his right fist and puts on an earnest expression before he asks of Palutena "So what did you need me to come here for then?" Palutena opens her eyelids and pulls her staff out farther from under her arm, pointing it towards the bright skies beyond Skyworld while directing Pit's attention towards that direction.

The angel turns around and looks out past Skyworld to see a few pink creatures with a large single eye flying between the clouds. Confused, Pit said "Huh? Monoeyes? But they're from the Underworld, what are they doing all the way up here?" Palutena immediately replied in a concerned tone of voice "No one from the Underworld Army would dare to venture up this far unless they were being directed by someone else."

Pit turns around and says with a shocked look on his face as he leans forward "But the only one who could control the Underworld Army is Medusa…Right? But that would mean she's been…" "Resurrected, yes. Even though it's been 25 years, she has managed to return. And with her army preparing to attack the humans, it's up to me as the goddess of light to protect them from harm." Palutena says firmly to Pit, and the angel nods his head before stating "Don't worry Lady Palutena, I promise I have your back."

Palutena's concerns melt away with a smile and a slight tilt of her head as she says to the angel "Hehe, I know you do Pit. But I can tell the Underworld Army has gotten a little stronger since last time, so there's a couple things I need to give to you before you can tackle them." The goddess holds her staff out and the spherical sapphire atop it glows, summoning forth with a flash of light a silver colored bow that was missing the string. The bow is thrust into Pit's open right hand, and with an enthusiastic glance over the weapon he says "Oh cool! What is this?"

Enjoying the awed expression of her trusted ally, Palutena explained to Pit while drawing her staff back beside her hip "That is the Silver Bow, it's a prototype weapon I made for you after seeing the return of the Underworld Army. It is powered by my magic, and it can fire an unlimited numbers of shots. It'll be useful for the moment, but I will try and make some more weapons for you while you are out on the battlefield."

Pit, in the middle of Palutena's explanation, tests out the new bow by pointing it towards the sky and pretending to pull the string. Instantly, an arrow of silver light is fired up quickly, but it only travels a short distance before it begins to shrink into nothingness. With a bright smile on his face, Pit lowers his arm and exclaims "This is so amazing! Thanks Lady Palutena! …Wait, you said this is a prototype?"

He looks up at the goddess for an answer, and she replies while glancing off to the side "Well I had to work quickly, so it's not a perfect weapon…I'll try and get you something better out of that later on, but for now it should work against the Underworld Army." "You're too kind Lady Palutena. This should be more than enough to stop them!" Pit pumps the bow into the air and fires off one more shot to get a feel for the weapon, while Palutena puts on a sly grin and says "Oh, in that case I guess I don't need to give you my second gift."

"Huh? What second gift?" Pit looks at Palutena and asks, and the goddess says to him in turn "Oh, just something you've been wanting for a very long time Pit…The power of flight!" It was at that very instance that Pit's jaw dropped in sheer disbelief, and he gleefully proclaimed with both fists clenched "Y-You're not pulling my leg here, are you Lady Palutena? You're actually going to give me the power to fly?!"

"Well I was, but since you seem so satisfied with just the Silver Bow…" Palutena was clearly taunting Pit in a kindly manner, but before she finished her sentence Pit shook his arms out and said in a desperately apologetic tone "Oh no no no! I'll never be able to defeat the Underworld Army without the ability to fly! I'm sorry for acting arrogant, Lady Palutena, so can I pretty please have the ability to fly?"

With Palutena being stared at with Pit's pitifully innocent puppy-dog eyes, the goddess quickly folded and said to the angel "Oh alright Pit. Here you go, one power of flight, coming right up!" Another wave of her staff allows a magical energy to flow into Pit's wings, making them glow with a rainbow light that causes the wings to flap, taking Pit off the ground much to his combined surprise and delight. "Whoa! I'm actually flying!" He proclaims with a wide and happy grin on his face.

He immediately turned around with Silver Bow in hand, looking back at Palutena and waving at her while exclaiming triumphantly "Thank you very, very, very much Lady Palutena! I won't let you down!" Palutena is about to say something else regarding Pit's new power, but the young angel quickly turns around and flies off to fight the Underworld Army with abundant enthusiasm.

Palutena then realizes that she could have easily pulled Pit back with her control over his flight, but then with one hand leaning against her chin she murmurs to herself "Well, I guess I can give it a minute or two before I tell him about the limitation…Don't want to damper that enthusiasm too much!" She gets a light chuckle out of what she said, and then with a brush of her staff against the empty air she teleports away from the edge of Skyworld back to her temple in order to cover Pit in what would be his toughest battle. But another hero was on the way, unknowingly coming to assist him…

**Clash of the Elements Part 4, Final Story: Uprising**

**Chapter 3?: The Heads of the Hewdraw**

Flying through the depths of space once more was the teenage Elemental Overlord Riku. It had been quite a number of months since he last made a visit to another world, and it's been that long since he's devoid himself of any inhibiting emotions like happiness or anger. He did this after realizing that it was a lack of good judgment due to his emotions that nearly led to one disaster after another on other worlds. But while he considered this plan of his to be a good idea, the two dragons that were allied with him from another realm had other thoughts.

"_Riku, this plan of yours is ridiculous. Just because you want to be more focused when helping other worlds doesn't mean you have to be emotionlessly during travel!" _The black dragon Takashi proclaims, berating Riku for his fool-hearted decision. The teenage Overlord replied while glancing slowly to the right _"If I let up for even a second, then I'll go back to the way I was before. A foolish child who let his emotions get the better of him…"_

"_You're still being a fool, just of a different sort." _Takashi bluntly points out, and Riku calmly says in turn _"Don't chide me for my decisions, Takashi. Not when I'm doing this for the benefit of the universe." _The dragon could be heard growling at the boy not long afterwards, with the white dragon Sodenko intervening afterwards with a remark of _"For once I agree with my brother. There have only been two instances where your emotions have gotten the better of you in a negative manner, and-"_

"_It led to the destruction of one world and the near destruction of another, that is what you were about to say, right?" _Riku interrupts in a rather blunt but honest tone of voice, followed by Takashi angrily exclaiming out of a lack of patience _"If you are so set on beating yourself up over everything you do that you are going to destroy your own emotions and identity, then why don't you just stop being an Elemental Overlord?!"_

The teenage Overlord had to take pause for a moment at that comment, thinking about it before he said to the black dragon _"What else is there for me? My memories of other worlds prevent me from truly relating to others on my own, my similar appearance to my brother prevents me from saying I have my own identity, and the atmospheric effects the higher-ups have applied to the worlds along with my powers mean I can never be normal. All I have is my duty to the worlds in the universe."_

"_That still doesn't mean you have to get rid of your emotions! To think that you'd be so unreasonable…" _After Takashi's gripes were ignored by Riku, who in his mind felt that Takashi was the one being unreasonable in this instance, he looked back on ahead and saw a planet in the distance. It was the planet Earth, but this one appeared to be surrounded by an array of mystical space phenomena such as constellations and seas of blue stardust.

Curious about this, Riku began to fly towards the planet at high speeds without saying anything to the two dragons. But Takashi had something to say to him before he ended their conversation _"…Riku, I just wish you go back to the way you were someday…I respected you back then." _For a moment, Riku grimaced at what was said to him, but put himself back into a stoic stake as he flew past all celestial phenomenon and went through the atmosphere of the planet. The fact that he wasn't transformed into another creature was already a good sign about his visit here…

The skies were bright and the clouds had a slightly orange tint to them, but Riku didn't find anything suspicious about them until he delved further into the sky and began to notice some other creatures flying around with him. They were pink, one-eyed creatures that were gathered together in a swarm of five with their sights aimed directly towards the teenage Overlord. They widened their eye for a moment and then fired off a blast of black and yellow electricity as big and round as their bodies.

Riku quickly drew his helix-bladed sword and performed a calm and swift 360 slash with his blade extended to cut down the energy blasts, firing out a slicing wave of wind that strikes through all the creatures in a single swoop. They disintegrate into nothingness, leaving Riku to float in mid-air and comment "Ok, so those were Monoeyes…I'm definitely in the Kid Icarus world." Immediately upon realizing this he turns around to find any other signs of activity in the sky.

Flipping around while dispelling his sword for the time being, the teenage Overlord catches a brief glimpse of a three-headed purple behemoth flying behind a thicket of clouds. He was pursuing a glowing speck, but the speck seemed to have some fight in him seeing one of the heads was blown off from the rest of the body as it passed into view again. The head flopped around as it fell towards the ground, and that was enough for Riku to figure out his next move.

Easing the slight tension in his muscles, Riku flew straight at the site of the aerial battle as fast as he could muster, noticing that he didn't feel at all weaker in any manner. After a good thirty seconds of flight, the teenage Overlord ends up catching up with the three-headed beast right as the glowing speck has managed to take off another head and had just fired off the decisive shot against the remainder of the body.

The creature is covered in explosions that drags it out of the sky, with the last head proclaiming in a pained but somewhat flamboyant tone "No! I'm too pretty to die!" When the behemoth crashes against the ground far below it creates a rising, glowing explosion. The one person responsible for defeating the beast, a young brown-haired angel with bright aura wings. In his right hand was a dark purple blade that appeared to have the aesthetic of cursed armor, complete with a blood red, fanged tip.

The angel swung his left fist up and proclaimed triumphantly "And that's the end of that!" But before he can enjoy his victory too much a voice calls out to him from afar in a reminding tone "Not yet Pit, the Hewdraw doesn't need a body to survive. It's two detached heads are still out there, so you need to follow them, pronto." Pit is then turned around and made to quickly descend towards the ground with his weapon drawn out beside himself. Riku was following close behind, and as he dived through the clouds to catch up with the angel another swarm of enemies began to launch an attack on Pit and Riku.

There were some Monoeyes, but this time there was also some green, impish orbs with large tongues along with some jellyfish creatures that looked a lot like…Metroids? Riku drew his blade upon seeing these Metroid look-a-likes called Komaytoes, and commented in a surprised tone "Boy, doesn't this bring back memories…" He kept his voice to a whisper before turning around to fend off the creatures with steady swings of his sword.

Meanwhile, Pit was firing off piercing purple shots from the blade in his hand, the shots being big enough to consume all of his enemies whole. The angel's focus remained strong until the voice speaking to him commented "Pit, when you get a chance, you might want to turn around." "Huh? Is the Underworld Army attempting a sneak attack, Lady Palutena?" Pit inquires, and as he turns around Palutena answers in a slightly worried tone "Not quite, but I think this is a little more troublesome."

Pit catches a glimpse of Riku in battle above him, and his eyes widen in disbelief and slight annoyance as he comments "What? Since when can humans fly?!" Palutena says in turn "They shouldn't be able to…Gods and goddesses would have to give them wings in order to make that possible. Pit, I know the Hewdraw heads are still a problem at the moment, but I need you to talk to this human for a bit so we can find out what his deal is."

"Alright Lady Palutena…" Pit spoke in an annoyed tone, and a bit of jealousy creeps to the surface as he rubs the back of his head with his free hand and states "Now even humans are flying on their own…This just hasn't been my day." By this point Riku has dispatched of the forces of the Underworld Army that had attacked him, which allows him to flip back around and look down at Pit, who was glancing at him with a puzzled look in his eyes.

"…So much for my stealthy approach." The teenage Overlord commented quietly before he looks at Pit and says to him while picking up the speed of his descent to get closer to him "Hey, you're Pit, right?" The angel widened his eyes in shock and was left with his mouth agape for a moment before he replies "Huh?! How do you know my name? …Have we met before?"

As Pit tilts his head and strains his brain trying to remember the person who spoke to him, Palutena intervenes and says in a cautious tone "Be on your guard Pit, my Palutena Alarm is going on red alert here." "Speaking of being on guard…It might be a good idea to stop Pit from hitting the ground." Riku says, gesturing his right pointer finger downward, and after being briefly caught up in her own surprise that this boy heard he speak Palutena uses her powers to put the brakes on Pit's flight.

This unfortunately causes Pit to be jerked downward from the sudden stop, only for him to be dragged back into his normal position with a little soreness in his wings. Thankfully, Palutena stopped him just thirty feet away from the solid ground. As Pit postured himself upright and scratched the back of his wings with the dull part of his blade, he says in a relieved tone of voice "That was a close one…My wings were almost torn right off my body!"

"That wouldn't have been good news, the spare angel wings were all accidentally thrown off of Skyworld by the Centurions last week…" Palutena comments in response to that, but despite her using a serious tone of voice Pit assumed otherwise and said in a jovial tone "Hehe…That's a good joke Lady Palutena." The fact that Palutena was silent afterwards did nothing but make Pit reply in a hesitant sounding "L-Lady Palutena?"

Riku floats beside Pit as he has his conversation with Palutena, and the goddess points out afterwards "Worry about that later Pit, right now I REALLY need you to talk with that flying human. After all, he seems to have heard me talk to you…" Pit was left with an agape mouth again before Riku explains "It's not like you are focusing your voice on just Pit here, Palutena."

"Even so, normal humans shouldn't hear my voice unless I focus on them. Of course, you've shown that you aren't just some normal human. I got to admit I'm kind of getting impatient here, just who are you?" Palutena demands an answer from the boy, while Pit ponders the remark and mentions "Huh, so that's why Magnus didn't hear you back then."

Riku nods his head and knows not to drag things out any longer, and under an assumption he decides to directly say "My name is Riku, the Elemental Overlord." Palutena immediately states in surprise "The Elemental Overlord?!" Pit was taken aback for a moment before saying "Whoa what?! You know who this guy is Lady Palutena?"

"Not the boy specifically, but I recognize the title. I'll explain in a bit Pit. You don't have much time left to fly and we still need to find the two Hewdraw heads." Palutena's reminder makes Pit slap his forehead and say in a panicked tone "Oh no, you're right!" Swerving his body around, the angel tries to look for any sign of rambunctious activity from the heads, leading to him noticing a town filled with stone houses being assaulted by the bounding heads of the Hewdraw.

"There they are!" Pit exclaims while pumping his left fist forward, and Palutena exclaims "Hurry Pit, the townspeople are in trouble without our help!" Her concern for the humans was blatant, but before Pit is sent off flying towards the town Riku states while folding his arms together "I'll come with you."

"I figured you would…Besides, I'm afraid you're going to have to answer a few questions for me before I can trust you." Palutena says, followed by Riku stating in a calm tone of voice as he and Pit fly straight towards the attacked town "I wasn't planning on resisting. But first, you should probably tell Pit what you know…I'm actually curious how you know about my title."

"Well, a long, long time ago…Maybe two-thousand years to be precise, there was this legendary figure named the Elemental Overlord. He could control all the elements from fire to wind, but the primary one he used was light, like me. He fought against the Dark King in a legendary battle that nearly reached our planet. But considering how long ago that was, I think this boy may be his successor…I heard from another source that there was some sort of prophecy involving his return." Palutena's explanation comes to an end rather quickly as Pit and Riku end up above the town.

"From the higher-ups, is that right?" Riku inquires, and Palutena says "Oh, so you know about them already? Yeah, that's who I heard it from then." Pit glances over at Riku and says in a delighted tone "So you're a hero from another world? That's so cool!"

"…I wouldn't say I'm a hero, Pit…" Riku says, trying his hardest to fight back embarrassment over the young angel's glee. Pit is then reminded of a rather bothersome fact and with a curious raise of his eyebrows he asks "Hey wait, so how do you know me and Lady Palutena's names? …Did we meet at that Super Smash Bros. tournament and I just forgot?"

Palutena says in an honest tone of voice "I think he probably knows about that tournament Pit, the Elemental Overlord is said to govern peace across all the worlds, after all. Anyways, prepare to hit the town, we got Hewdraws to hunt!" At the goddess' command, Pit is sent gliding towards the town with Riku following close behind, and the young angel turns towards the teenage Overlord and says to him "Oh I get it now! So you're some kind of super powered space cop!"

"…I've honestly never heard it put that way before." Riku says after staring at Pit in sheer disbelief. The two heroes then flip their bodies around and land softly on the stone ground, with Pit's wings losing their glow as he holds his weapon out and looks at the destruction caused by a combination of the Hewdraw heads and the Underworld Army. "They're out of control!" Pit proclaims in a horrified tone of voice.

"That they are Pit. We're never going to defeat it unless we can get them to stand still in an open environment." Palutena explains, and Pit finds it fit to ask "Lady Palutena, would you happen to have any Hewdraw bait? …Actually, would a head without a body even need to eat?" Palutena chuckles and replies in an assuring tone of voice "Don't worry Pit, I got you covered. But there's just one last thing I have to ask…Riku, what is your purpose in being here?"

Pit turns around and looks at the boy, and Riku folds his arms and says honestly to both Pit and Palutena "I'm here to help you face the Underworld Army. We have the same goals, so I'm willing to assist you however I can." Pit puts his two cents into the matter by saying to Palutena "Lady Palutena, I'm ok with having Riku help us out."

"Two is better than one, they always say. Really, Riku doesn't seem untrustworthy, so if he wants to tagalong he's more than welcome to. But only if he agrees to follow my orders every now and then." Palutena makes her rules clear, leading to Riku nodding his head and saying "I think that's only fair. You know this world more than I do, after all." Pit then flips around and extends his left hand while saying "The put 'er there Riku! Now we're partners!"

The teenage Overlord extends his hand out and gives Pit a good shake, sealing the partnership between him and Palutena's Army. "Alright, your first order of business is to help Pit destroy the Hewdraw heads for good! I've got a lock on a small, abandoned coliseum nearby, so head on over there and we can initiate 'Operation: Hardcore Hewdraw Halting!'" The young angel turns around and cautiously holds his weapon out, looking at the coliseum up ahead and commenting "Alright Lady Palutena, we're on it!"

The two heroes make a sprint towards the Coliseum, fending off any members of the Underworld Army that try to stop their advance. Pit cuts down the steel-barred doors of the coliseum with his blade and then slowly walks inside, looking around and noticing that not a single member of the Underworld Army has touched this place yet. He then says "Alright, I've made it to the coliseum, what's the plan Lady Palutena?"

"Well Pit, how would you like another gift?" Palutena asks, and enthusiastically Pit smiles and says "Another gift? Wow! You've been so generous with them lately Lady Palutena, and it's not even my birthday! What is it?" "Just stand still and close your eyes, and you'll receive it soon enough." Palutena's tone had a hint of mischievousness to it, but the oblivious angel closes his eyelids while keeping his peppy grin on his face.

Suddenly, the coliseum is filled with a bright pink mist that covers both Pit and Riku's bodies. The teenage Overlord flinches in shock for a moment as a peculiar odor surrounds his body, but when Pit takes a whiff at it he licks his lips and assumes "Oh boy, is it a giant cake? Are you going to use a giant cake to lure out the Hewdraw?" "I wouldn't exactly get your hopes up there Pit…" Riku calmly points out afterwards.

Before Pit can open his eyes and reply to that, the ground in the center of the coliseum is blown apart, and a dark purple dragon head with two horns and pupil-less orange eyes flops against the ground a couple of times before setting it's sights on both Pit and Riku. During this time the angel says "Why noooooooooooOOOOOOOOT?!" He's left with a look of utter shock on his face as he notices the Hewdraw head's sudden appearance, followed by him stumbling back as the head smacks it's teeth together and drools slightly.

Riku summons forth his sword and leaps off to the right while Pit jumps off the left, with the Hewdraw head lunging forward and smashing skull first against the side of the coliseum, which jolts apart some of the bricks and leaves the beast feeling slightly dizzy for a moment. Pit places one hand on his heavily beating heart while trying to steady his blade and get a good shot in on the head's back, all the while exclaiming to Palutena "Lady Palutena, what did you put on me?! The Hewdraw's going crazy!"

"It's my patented Palutena Monster Pheromone! It attracts monsters of any sort!" Palutena seemed all too proud of what she had accomplished here today even though Pit's life was in incredible danger. As the angel fires off a heavy bolt of energy at the back of the beast's head, he exclaims in disbelief "Yeah, attracts them to me! You've turned me into a fleshy delicacy!"

"…I really have to wonder why you had to cover me with that Pheromone as well, Palutena." Riku states in a somewhat annoyed tone, and the goddess replies "Well it's not like I had a choice in the matter." To which Pit points out while leaping and rolling to the right to avoid another lunge and bite from the Hewdraw "You could have just NOT used the Pheromone! There had to be a better way to handle this!"

"Oh Pit, you should know by now that despite my winsomeness and equanimity, I do have a strong streak of rascality" Palutena speaks out in a more blatantly mischievous tone of voice, and Pit exclaims after firing off another large bolt at the Hewdraw head "I don't even know what that means!"

As the Hewdraw head takes the projectile attacks from both of his opponents, he continues to smack his lips and say in a savoring tone of voice "Mmm…I must say, I haven't smelt something this good since my mother's cooking. I wonder if you'll both taste the same way?" Pit finally gets rid of his panic long enough to slash at the Hewdraw's nostrils and fend the creature off when it performs another lunge, and as the beast crashes on the side of it's head from recoil Pit swings one fist forward and proclaims "You better be careful, head of Hewdraw, this delicacy has a bit of a kick to it!"

Once the Hewdraw head was down on it's side, Riku took the broken debris from the right side of the coliseum and held it above the beast, bringing it all down upon him in a single heavy load to ensure that he was crushed. The head blew up in a fantastical display of light, and Riku claps his hands together while turning to face Pit, saying to him in a humble tone of voice "Good job knocking him down Pit, you made him vulnerable enough to defeat."

"Whoa! That's what an Elemental Overlord can do?!" Pit exclaims in an awed manner as he blinks a few times at Riku. The teenage Overlord has to say to him "Focus Pit, we still have one more head to deal with. Besides, you really shouldn't be fanboying over what I did just now." "He's right you know Pit. We need to stay focused. Fortunately, we won't be needing that monster pheromone anytime soon." Palutena's intervention directs the young angel's attention back towards her.

"Whew, that's a relief…" He says, and Palutena comments "I'm not saying it wouldn't be useful, but it doesn't matter right now because I found the last head on my own. It's run off to the lake outside of town. Head east from here and you should be able to find it." "For a head, it's pretty mobile. Alright, thanks for the directions." Pit makes a swift quip before thanking Palutena for her help, and then him and Riku rush out of the coliseum to make their way to the lake.

As they weave their way through town, Riku puts out whatever fires he can with a guided stream of water, noting that the humans have abandoned the town while the attack was still going on. "Glad you're here to put out the fires, Riku, it'd be horrible to imagine the humans trying to deal with this on their own." Palutena says in an appreciative tone of voice, and while he switches to his blade in order to deal with a few Monoeyes he replies with "I imagine there's little technology on this world…Well, human-based technology anyways, so there's no easy way for humans to fight fires or rebuild their houses."

"That's correct." Palutena replies, and Pit brings up afterwards "Kind of wish we could do something to help, but you aren't exactly the goddess of water, are you Lady Palutena?" The goddess chuckles at that remark and says in turn "It's fine Pit, we're doing the humans a great favor by fending off Medusa's forces."

"Yeah, they aren't lucky enough to have weapons crafted by a goddess." Pit says in an appreciative manner while firing a rapid series of bolts at the green-orbed creatures and a Komaytoes that was floating behind them all. As he swerves his body to focus back on the winding road ahead Riku glances at him and asks "Speaking of weapons…What's the story behind the one you're wielding now?"

"Oh, this blade? It's called the Gaol Blade. On the last mission I did, I defeated a human possessed by the Underworld Army named Gaol, and Lady Palutena took the possessed armor away from her and used it to create this weapon. It's pretty nifty, but I think I'm going to try something else out next time." Pit's explanation leads to Palutena saying in a taunting manner "I think you just get bored easily when it comes to weapons, Pit."

"Hey now, got to keep my enemies on their toes, they won't be able to do anything if they can't guess what weapon I plan to use!" Pit tries to justify his decisions, but Palutena logically points out "But if you keep doing that, you're not going to get good with any weapon type." Riku then interjects by continuing to glance at Pit and saying "She's right, but at the same time you should make sure you feel comfortable with your decision, Pit."

"Ugh, you guys really aren't making this easy for me…" Pit bemoans as both bits of advice leave him feeling rather confused. But his confusion turns into determined focus as he and Riku finally make their way past the outer wall of the town, and a quick spring through the woods takes them to the shoreline of the sparkling lake. Upon arriving there, they find a serpent slithering into the depths of the water with the last Hewdraw head attached to the top of it. The creature had dark pink scales, but otherwise looked exactly like it's brothers.

The Hewdraw raises itself upright, towering over the two heroes as it lashes it's head down, roaring out before he says in a mocking tone of voice "Well, well. So nice to SEE you again! And it seems you brought a pal along!" Pit matches the Hewdraw's arrogance by confidently boasting "You won't feel the way for long." As he swings his Gaol Blade to the side the Hewdraw smacks his lips in laughter and lunges his head forward while exclaiming "That's big talk, little firecracker!"

With both heroes at arms and a guttural roar coming from the final Hewdraw, the battle had begun. The Hewdraw starts off by spitting out a few fireballs at his opponents, and while Pit dodges off to the left and charges up his weapon Riku grabs the fireballs with his mind and holds them up in front of them for a few seconds before throwing them back. The Hewdraw manages to slink backwards into the water, splashing up enough of it with a lash of his tail in order to put the fireballs back out.

But he did that entirely by accident, as he wasn't expecting the second boy to catch his attack. "Whoa whoa, hey now! I didn't sign up for this! Since when does Skyworld have someone like this on their side?!" While he was leaning back in the water and distracted, the Hewdraw is shot underneath the chin by a bolt from Pit's Gaol Blade, which stings him slightly.

The Hewdraw then decides to retreat into the water to make it harder for the heroes to strike at it's delicate underside, but Riku punches at the ground and sends a bolt of electricity gliding straight towards the lake. "Bad idea, bad idea!" Pit says in a panicked tone of voice as the bolt strikes the water and sends electricity surging through it, putting on a flashy display of light that forces the Hewdraw out of the lake…With all of the electricity surrounding the beast instead of harming it in the slightest.

"…Umm…Maybe we should have told Riku that the Hewdraw primarily uses electricity." Palutena bemoans a little too late, while Pit tries to stay calm as he fires off another charged shot at the Hewdraw, only for the electricity surrounding the beast to deflect the shot with ease. The Hewdraw then opens it's mouth and says "Thanks for the present human! Now it's time for me to make a return!" He wastes little time in firing off a powerful beam of orange electricity, but Riku merely holds his blade up and sets up a barrier of electricity from it that allows him to hold back the Hewdraw's might while he stands in place.

The teenage Overlord then glances at Pit and gives him a nudge towards the Hewdraw, showing Pit that the barrier was down around his body and that his underside was open once more. At this point, the angel smiles confidently and comments in a drawn out tone "Ooooh, I get it now." He then wastes little time in aiming precisely at the center of the Hewdraw's chest and firing one large shot from the Gaol Blade.

The power of the shot was enough to send the Hewdraw's head reeling back, which in turn removed the electric beam from sight and freed up Riku. The teenage Overlord then took hold of his blade and dashes at the Hewdraw's body, leaping at it and delivering a clean slash at the bottom of the head, which causes the beast to lumber back a few inches. Finally, Pit rolls forward to get his Gaol Blade charged up and fires one last bolt at the spot Riku struck, dealing a decisive, critical blow to the Hewdraw that causes time to freeze for a brief moment and a swift and sudden "boom!" fills the air.

The Hewdraw lashes around for a bit in pain, realizing that he is about to perish, but as his body twitches he tries to have the last word by saying "Before I go, I just wanted to say-" He explodes just like the other two heads before he could finish, and since he was in the middle of a lake his demise leads to the water being spread about in a light rain across the lakeside. As both Pit and Riku were touched by the droplets, Pit had a rather puzzled look on his face as he inquired "Huh, I wonder what he wanted to say?"

"Beats me, but that's another of Medusa's commanders out of the way, good job Pit!" Palutena praises Pit for his work, but the angel is quick to turn to look at Riku and raises his left hand up while proclaiming "Hey, you did good yourself Riku! High-five!" The teenage Overlord dispels his sword and glances at the angel, telling him in a stoic tone of voice as he folds his arms together "Yeah, we made a great team there Pit. The Underworld Army should be taken care of easily with the two of us fighting together like this."

Pit's puzzled by Riku's lack of enthusiasm, letting out a murmur of "Huh?" as he lowers his arm. Palutena then chimes in with a remark of "Alright, I'm going to call out back now Pit. Sorry to say Riku, but you're going to have to find Skyworld on your own if you want to keep helping us." Pit is then surrounded by a pillar of light and swiftly called back to Skyworld with Palutena's magic, while Riku looks towards the sky and asks "Can I at least get some directions?"

"Sure. Just go straight up into the air, turn around, and keep flying until you eventually see a bunch of floating islands. It shouldn't take you very long." Palutena's explanation, while somewhat vague, gave Riku just enough information to find Skyworld on his own. Giving the goddess a thankful nod of his head, the teenage Overlord took off from the lakeside, flying past the rainbow formed as he prepared to go visit Skyworld and continue his mission here…

_Next Time: Fear the Reaper!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 4: The Reaper's Line of Sight**

A day after taking down the Hewdraw, Palutena sends out Pit and Riku for another mission. Using a magic door of the goddess' own design, the two end up emerging in the middle of a bright, light-blue, cloudy expanse, where Pit's power of flight kicks in while Riku simply glides out. The teenage Overlord immediately glances at his right arm, looking at the small laurel Palutena had given to him so she can call him back easily from completed missions.

"Thanks for making this for me, Palutena." Riku says in a complimenting tone, and the goddess replies "It was no big deal, really." She sounded humble when she spoke. This is followed up by Pit asking in an enthusiastic tone of voice "So Lady Palutena, what are we doing today?"

"Well Pit, you remember the Reapers, don't you? From the Underworld?" Palutena's inquiry leads to Pit sagging his head in a deflated manner and murmuring out "Not those guys…You get near them and they just freaking out and start calling in their little Reapettes." The angel groans and says immediately afterwards "I get worked up just thinking about them!"

Pit makes good use of his worked up state by using his new weapon, a curved-handle staff covered with roses and thorns, to shoot at a series of Miks and Monoeyes that were flying straight at him and Riku. The teenage Overlord meanwhile clashes with four-winged creatures that have blades for noses named Shrips, taking a couple seconds to repel them before swinging his other hand out to scorch them with fireballs.

"Sooooo anyways..." Palutena says in a reminding tone of voice, followed by Pit focusing with an apologetic "Sorry, sorry, go on…" The goddess then explains "The Reapers have a fortress near the entrance to the Underworld in Reaper Valley."

"Heheh, where are they at, Reaper Boulevard?" Pit comments in a joking tone of voice to try and relieve some stress, saying further on "But seriously, thank goodness we don't have to go there, right?" Palutena's complete and utter silence filled the young angel with a creeping sense of dread, and it didn't help when after firing a shot at some Underworld Army members he turned to look at Riku and didn't get any reassurance from him either.

Hanging his head slightly as he turns back on ahead, Pit bemoans "We're going to have to go, aren't we?" Palutena gives him a reply in the form of a drawn out "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeep." Letting out an agonized sigh, Pit rubs the back of his head and begrudgingly asks "Can you at least tell us WHY we're going to a place crawling with Reapers?"

"Of course. You see, I'm trying to find another one of Medusa's commanders, Pandora." Palutena quickly explains, and the puzzled angel asks "The goddess of disaster and calamity? THAT Pandora?" As Pit asks this, he and Riku end up gliding past the thicket of clouds and dive down towards a gloomy looking ravine, where the sky looks darker in tone.

"The one and only!" Palutena enthusiastically replies, before further elaborating in a puzzled tone of voice "She's currently residing in her Labyrinth of Deceit, but I can't find it, not even with my all-seeing Eye of Palutena." She puts a tone of mysticism in her made-up eye, leading to Pit pointing out "Hey wait a minute, if you have an all-seeing eye, then how come you can't find Pandora?"

"Because of my SLIGHTLY botched laser-eye surgery." Palutena continues up with the tone she used to describe her 'Eye of Palutena'. With a grumpy look on his face, Pit finally puts two and two together and asks "You're just messing with again, aren't you?" To which Riku looks at him and says "Is it really that surprising?"

Palutena giggles at Pit's realization, but then puts on a serious face when she says to Pit "Regardless, it's up to you and Riku to infiltrate the Reaper's Fortress!" Upon being reminded of where he was being led to, Pit's eyes widen and he gulps a bit of saliva before saying "R-Right…" Focusing back on ahead, Pit uses his Rose Staff to continue dealing with the Underworld Army while trying not to let his fear get the better of him. As he and Riku glide above the dark ravine, the teenage Overlord comments "Pit, did the Reapers really give you that bad of a time?"

"O-Of course not. They were just really, really….REALLY creepy. And there's likely going to be hundreds of them at this fortress!" Pit explains, the stuttering showing a little bit of inner trauma regarding the Reapers. "Well so long as they don't notice us, it won't be a problem, right? We just have to be stealthy." Riku tries to make Pit feel better, but the angel nervously chuckles and comments "Y-Yeah…I can be stealthy."

"Pit, lying is never a good thing." Palutena interjects, and Pit replies "What do you mean Lady Palutena?" Palutena then starts to explain "I remember one time where I tried to get you to take a bath after a long day of work…" Pit realizes what was about to be told and immediately exclaims "Whoa! Lady Palutena, t-there's no need to mention that story, especially in front of company!"

"Awww, you're no fun sometimes Pit." Palutena says in a teasing manner, to which Pit blushes and comments in turn "I-I just don't want you telling people embarrassing stories about me, that's all." Riku then interrupts their conversation by stating "Heads up, there's a bunch of red lights glowing in the distance." This draws Pit's attention back forward, where a series of red lights can be seen getting brighter one after the other past a large crevice.

"Red lights? Are those…?" As Pit glares at the lights they suddenly fire off harmless beams of red through the sky, some of them touching Riku and Pit's skin and causing the sky to go haywire with red flashes of light. "Reaper eyes! Pit, I need to get out of there, pronto! Riku, head into the crevice, we'll try and lose them there!" Palutena's warning is followed up by Pit performing a swift arc through the air to head back to a safer location, while Riku takes a glance at the swarm of tiny ghouls carrying miniature scythes flying after them from above the barely visible Reapers.

First, the teenage Overlord dispels his sword and claps his hands together to create a power gale that blows back the Reaperettes and scatter them across the sky, stalling them long enough for him to flip around and fly straight after Pit as the angel is sent diving straight into the largest ravine. Pit had one hand on his chest and was panting slightly, saying in a flustered tone "I…I've never seen that many Reapers before in my life!"

"They aren't kidding around with the defenses, but they've left their underside wide open. Keep heading through this ravine and you'll eventually make it to the Reaper's Fortress." Palutena advises, her full honesty being put into words to help Pit calm down, to which the angel replies by pumping his fist up and proclaiming "Then what are we waiting for, full speed ahead Lady Palutena!"

"Glad to see that enthusiasm of yours has returned. Alright, hang on!" Palutena kicks Pit's flight into high gear, increasing his speed to have him zip faster through the ravine, though the angel still had to be careful for the protrusion of sharp rock coming out from each side of the ravine along with the Underworld Army that refused to let him advance. But Riku and Pit both had their weapons at the ready and shot at their enemies while weaving over and under the protrusions.

After a few seconds of flying, the two run into a windstorm blowing right through an intersection of ravines, leading to Palutena exclaiming in a worried tone "Brace yourself Pit!" As the angel flies right into the windstorm, his body is tossed around for a mere second before he ends up flying right along the left side of the ravine as he's jettisoned out. Riku managed to ride the wind well enough to end up on the same course, and he glances over as both he and Palutena ask "You holding up ok there Pit?"

With his head shaking in a dizzy manner, Pit groans and says "Owww…" to which Palutena comments with a giggle preceding it "Pit, it was only the wind." The angel grits his teeth slightly and admits "Well yeah…but it felt like the wind was punching me as I traveled through it." The goddess then says to him "Well I guess that'd be possible…Just be thankful it wasn't acid or poison wind, I don't know what I would've done then."

This time around Palutena's words didn't help Pit feel any better, and he folded his arms together while letting out a mumble of "I feel so blessed…" After flying through more of the ravine along with another windstorm that Pit is able to handle a lot better, the two heroes end up inside of a dead end, surrounded by the forces of the Underworld. The walls seal up behind them, and as the two of them take on their foes Palutena tries to find a way out of the area.

"Hmmm…There! There's a tunnel down south!" Palutena exclaims, and Pit is immediately guided straight down towards a wide-open tunnel with his body narrowly avoiding the laser gaze of a Reaper. Riku follows close behind, and as the Underworld Army follows the young angel flips around and fires a large charge shot from the Rose Staff to take out a large number of the troops. He then flips back around while commenting "The Underworld Army has really stepped up their game."

"There's no way they managed this on their own. It's a sure sign that Medusa is back in power." Palutena explains, while Riku comments "The may have numbers, but they don't have the power to do anything with it, even with Medusa helping out." "Even so, that's no reason to drop your guard, Medusa seems to have created new creatures as well." Palutena says.

"I noticed that. Hmmm, unless I completely forgot about the creatures with sword faces…" Pit ponders this matter as he and Riku fly into a slightly thinner tunnel that seemed to be leading to a misty green area. Palutena chimes in with a remark of "We're almost there. 3.…2...1...You're out!" The two heroes fly straight out of the tunnel and through the green mist, finding themselves straight in the heart of Reaper territory.

There was a large castle surrounded by two separate walls made of pure, large bones, with a long thin pathway leading to the castle doors over an expanse of eerie black fog. With the power of flight is seemed to be far too easy to just infiltrate the castle, but as the two heroes flew close by a series of Reaper's eye beams shot out from the perimeter of the wall, coming out in such a rapid bombardment that Pit and Riku were both forced to rapidly swerve around the air and dodge the entrance of the Reaper's Fortress entirely.

Palutena was guiding Pit backwards, following up with her mentioning "It's way too dangerous to attempt an aerial assault, I'm going to send you in through the front gates!" "I'll follow you in just a minute!" Riku exclaims as he draws his sword into the air and charges it with fire, simultaneously deflecting off some of the Reaper's eye beams before swinging the blade down and sending a large wave of fire at the center of the right wall.

The wave of fire cleaves down the wall and creates a large explosion of flame that Pit notices as he lands and runs across the wooden bridge leading to the entrance. Letting out a shocked "Whooooooaaaa" as he watches the boney wall and the Reapers atop it collapse apart into the mist. Riku then ends up running up behind Pit, saying to him "That should give us some leeway. Let's go." He was completely serious in his tone despite the angel looking back at him with his mouth agape in shock.

Using the Rose Staff to blast open the front doors, Pit and Riku run into the Reaper's Fortress as the eye beams fail to even graze their bodies. But as they make it inside the fortress, Pit trips and crashes hard against the stone floor, skidding for a few feet before coming to an end. The power of flight is cancelled, and Palutena pauses for a few seconds before asking "…Ummm…Well, that wasn't a very good landing, I'd say."

Riku kneels down beside Pit and offers his hand to help him up, and with an embarrassed chuckle the young angel accepts it and is back on his feet in no time with just a few minor scuffs on his skin to show for it. "Heh, thanks for the assistance Riku." "No problem Pit. You holding up alright?" Riku asks in an stoic tone.

"I probably shouldn't have gotten distracted by you destroying that wall…" Pit says as he rubs the back of his head, and Riku admits bluntly "Probably not. I didn't want to do it at first, since I actually kind of like how the architecture is set up on the outside. The Reapers definitely have an artistic side to them." It was odd to hear Riku speak from Pit's point of view, since the teenage Overlord didn't seem too passionate about his thoughts.

Riku glances around the area, noticing the pale glow reflected on the walls from outdoors before he turns to look at Pit and his puzzled expression. "Is something the matter?" He asks, and Pit in turn puts on a normal expression and replies with "So Riku, are you pumped and ready to take on some Reapers?!"

"What happened to your concerned attitude Pit? You were almost traumatized about facing the Reapers before." Riku points out while dodging the question for his own reasons. Pit stumbles back a bit and says "H-Huh? Of course I'm not scared anymore! In fact, if I saw a Reaper right now, I'd-" "Alert them of your presence? Panic?" Palutena finishes the sentence with a mischievous giggle.

"Not at all! I'd show them the ol' Pit one-two!" Pit pumps his left fist into the air while leaping slightly, then jabs twice in front of his body in an enthusiastic manner. Palutena chuckles again before pointing out "In that case, you should have taken the Upperdash Arm with you. I guess you'll have to wait to show them your secret technique, sorry Pit." One could just imagine the goddess' smile as she spoke.

"Awww…" Pit hangs his head in a slightly melancholy manner, followed by Riku gesturing out with his right hand and saying "You can show me the move later Pit. Right now, we need to find out how to reach Pandora." The teenage Overlord then turns towards the dark and damp corridors of the fortress and starts walking, while Pit creeps behind him and says "So Riku…Do you not fear the Reapers? Cause you've been pretty calm this whole mission."

Riku glances back and responds with "If the Reapers catch sight of me, I'd probably be able to take them out easily." "Wait, probably?" Pit inquires with a brief but curious raise of his right eyebrow, and the teenage Overlord holds his arm out after passing a guillotine upon noticing a Reaper patrolling one of the corridors. Pit and Riku step back to avoid his line of sight, leaning against the murky walls as the teenage Overlord draws his sword and comments "There's something I need to say real quick…"

Drawing out his sword and keeping it hidden from the edge of the passage, Riku glances back at the Reaper and then retreats before his vision can reach him, commenting to Pit afterwards "As ordained by these 'higher-ups' I keep hearing about, there is a barrier around the atmosphere of each planet that will do something to me or my powers depending on the location. So I can't say for certain that I'm at my full power."

"You seemed fine blowing up that wall earlier." Pit points out in a straightforward manner, and Riku in turn admits "For all I know that's the best I can manage. Fighting against underlings and one-third of a whole Hewdraw isn't the best way to figure out how weak I may have become. But don't worry…" The teenage Overlord turns Pit and says to him as the end of his sentence "Regardless of how strong I am now, I'm not going to stop helping you out…You and Palutena both."

"Then it's probably advisable that you avoid the Reapers for now. Thankfully, they aren't capable of hearing anything, otherwise this conversation would've alerted the Reaper nearby." Palutena explains, and Pit mentions "Huh, I never actually considered that. Reapers can't do anything without setting their sights on someone…That actually seems ineffective." "Even so, they're dangerous when they do come after you…Though I don't think you'll ever forget that, Pit." Palutena says in a teasing tone.

Pit rubs the back of his head and murmurs out "Right…" Afterwards, the Reaper around the corner goes to patrol another part of the fortress, giving Riku and Pit a chance to slip on by and make it deeper into the fortress. A wide-open courtyard before a staircase forces a confrontation with the Underworld Army, where a new foe, a large nose with two glaring eyes, appears. But he is dispatched rather easy, and the barrier preventing Pit and Riku from continuing is dispelled.

"For a Reaper's Fortress, it's pretty devoid of Reapers…" Pit comments as he and Riku ascend the staircase. "There must be a huge soul harvest going on, and since the Reapers are meant to ferry the souls to the Underworld that WOULD explain their absence." Palutena explains the situation to the two heroes, and Riku comments "…In other words, the humans are starting a war, aren't they?"

"Correct." Palutena replies, and with a depressed look in his eyes Pit inquires "Why do they have to keep fighting? It's so sad and pointless…" Humbly, Palutena admits "True as that may be Pit, I don't have the right to call them out on this. After all, I'm currently in a war with Medusa, forcing the humans to be caught in the middle of our selfish affair. And because of that, the humans aren't being provided for, which leads to their destructive behavior, especially against each other."

"But that's not your fault Lady Palutena, everyone loves the goddess of light!" Pit says in an enthusiastic tone of voice, and after a surprised pause the goddess can be felt smiling before she says "Thank you Pit…Anyways, I'll be sending you a grind rail to the next part of the fortress, so keep moving." Upon saying that, a glowing green rail appears to the left of where Pit and Riku currently stand. The teenage Overlord kicks off the ground and says "Meet you on the other side" before taking off to the end of the rail.

Pit leaps atop the rail and grinds forward, dropping off near the eastern side of the fortress and taking on more of the Underworld Army alongside Riku. Once they are done, they run through the nearby doors and head deeper into the fortress, only to pause once they find two Reapers patrolling a circular area. "Ho boy, this could be trouble." Pit points out while sneaking back a bit to avoid being caught by one Reaper's line of sight.

"I could create a wind platform for us to ride over them…" Riku points out, but Pit pumps his fist forward and says enthusiastically "No way! Now's where I show you just how stealthy I really am!" Palutena interjects immediately with a blunt "That one time I wanted to give you a bath…" to which the angel quickly retorts with a blush on his face "Not now Lady Palutena, I'm being serious here!"

"Pit, I really don't think you could have gotten any espionage training as an angel." Riku is quick to point out, but Pit's enthusiasm wasn't dampened as he turned towards the teenage Overlord and told him "Well no, but I met a guy who was really good at it once before. His name was Solid Snack." "Pit, I'm pretty certain that wasn't his name…" Palutena points out quickly.

"Well what else would he be called? He came out of a cardboard box just like a snack would." Pit says in a completely serious tone of voice, and Riku was honestly trying his hardest not to crack a laugh. Pit caught wind of this and glanced at the teenage Overlord curiously, only for Riku to say to him with a stoic tone of voice "While I appreciate the idea Pit, we don't have a cardboard box with us. It'd just be better to go with my plan."

"Yeah, I guess I'd rather not be chased down by two Reapers…" Pit admits in a somewhat defeated tone of voice, and with an agreeing nod of his head the teenage Overlord places one hand on the ground and creates a thick platform of wind underneath his and Pit's feet. Rising over the Reapers, the two of them make it to the other side of the room and continue on once the platform is dispersed. "I'm not going to make a habit out of giving us shortcuts, just thought I'd let you know that now." Riku says while taking a moment to fold his arms together.

"Huh, how come?" Pit inquires as they continue through the fortress. "When I come to this type of world, I tend to allow the hero to do most things on their own. I'm not here to seek glory, instead just helping out whenever it's necessary." "This type of world? What do you mean by that?" Pit inquires further after Riku answers his first question, and the teenage Overlord glances at him and says "I can explain that later. We have a mission to do, don't forget that."

"I'm not, but I thought we could have a conversation while moving. Lady Palutena and I do that all the time." Pit explains, and Riku says "It's not really a subject that I should be speaking about on a mission, no need for you to distracted." He then continues forwards while Pit stays behind for a moment and tilts his head curiously, with Palutena letting out an intrigued "Hmm…" from afar.

Pit and Riku continue through the Reaper's Fortress, battling through the remainder of the Underworld Army stationed there to defend the place in most of the Reapers' absence, eventually making it to a lift that carries them down to the deepest recesses of the fortress. Upon making it there, the two heroes are greeted with three passages. One clearly led to the center of the fortress and had a foreboding red glow to it, but that wasn't the one Pit was focused on.

He turned towards the left, where a glowing golden spring of water released steam towards the young angel, inviting him with it's soothing heat to take a dip in it's rejuvenating waters. "A hot springs inside of a Reaper's Fortress?! This is too good to be a true!" Pit exclaims, and before Riku can say anything to him Pit sprints straight for the golden hot springs and leaps right inside of it. Water is splashed into Riku's face even from that far of a distance, but he merely blinked in response.

The teenage Overlord walks into the hot springs room and stands at the edge of it while Pit leans back in the waters, completely clothed. Pit seemed to be melting away inside of the hot springs, with him letting a deflating but relieved sigh, and once he had perfectly settled in he looked at Riku and said to him "Come on Riku, hop inside! These waters will heal all of your wounds!" "That's nice of you to share the hot springs Pit, but even with his powers Riku is still a human. The water wouldn't affect him." Palutena points out right away.

"So? Even without the blessing of the goddesses, hot springs are still relaxing." Pit said something rather smart for once, and Riku was inclined to agree with him as he said "While that's true, I really don't need to take a dip at the moment. Just rest up for a bit and then we'll move on." The teenage Overlord then turned around and kept on guard in case of an attack, while Pit was too busy letting his troubles ease away to say anything else.

After a good few minutes, Pit stands up and stretches his arms, leaping out of the hot springs with renewed vigor. "Alright, let's move on!" He proclaims as he picks up the Rose Staff he dropped before entering the room, him and Riku then head back to the central area, only for Pit's curiosity to make him glance at the rightmost passage to see what was inside. His heart immediately skipped a beat as he saw three Reapers sitting inside what appeared to be a dark purple, wicked variant of the hot springs.

"H-Huh? The Reapers have their own hot springs? That's an affront to nature, I will not stand for this!" Pit took great offense to what the Reapers were doing, and for once was planning to confront the Reapers instead of avoiding them. While Riku was glad to see him being courageous, he quickly grabbed the angel by the right shoulder and told him "This is really not the time to be picking a fight."

"Why not? The Reapers cannot be allowed to get away with this!" Pit exclaims, forcing Palutena to interject and say "Pit, take another look at the Reapers before you do anything you'll regret." Pit stops in place and looks into the evil hot springs room again. The Reapers glance at him with their eyes and spasm slightly, but instead of freaking out and summoning Reaperettes they wave their stubby arms at Pit and seem to have a look of contention on their faces.

"Huh, I guess even the messengers of death know how to enjoy a good hot springs." Pit says, realizing that there's something to relate to when it comes to the Reapers and himself. "Just because they're creepy, carry scythes, and try to finish you off doesn't mean they are that bad, Pit." Palutena says, which causes Pit to cross his arms and say in a sour tone "Thanks for ruining the mood, Lady Palutena."

The goddess giggled happily, and with a disheartened sigh Pit let the bathing Reapers be and continued on with Riku towards the deepest part of the fortress. After a large crimson door opened up at the end of the central passage, the two ran through a pitch black tunnel and ended up inside of a circular room. In here there was a lone Reaper patrolling the center of it, his glowing vision being noticeable amidst the darkness. He puts his sights on the two heroes, and immediately starts to freak out, his hair extending upward as he bounces back and forth a few times.

But that was when things get weird, as the Reaper's eyes glow brightly and cover the room in a large flash of light. It instantaneously disappears though, with the entire room trembling now that the Reaper has been transformed into something much more monstrous and massive in scale. The boney titan wrapped in the tattered purple robe of a Reaper wielded a scythe as large as it's own body, with it's head having four glowing green hollow eyes and a crown of yellow bone atop the skull. The inside of his robe was burning with hellfire, while a necklace of skulls and green flames wrapped around the collar.

The titanic Reaper slammed the staff of it's scythe against the ground, while Pit fearfully murmured "No way…" in the face of this massive foe. Riku drew his sword and immediately took to the skies while saying "Pit, stay focused, we can handle this if we attack from different sides!" He then flew straight at the creature's face while igniting his blade with fire, but the Great Reaper took his scythe and swung it across the air to deflect the boy's attack and blow him back a few feet with a gust of wind.

"Ugh, do we seriously have to fight this thing?!" Pit exclaims in disbelief over the Reaper's size, to which Palutena bluntly tells him "Yes. He's the one responsible for hiding Pandora's location from me. Just aim for the head and toes and you should be able to take him out quickly." "Oh yeah, that will be SOOO easy." Pit sarcastically replies while waiting for the Rose Staff to charge up, and he leaps back seconds later as the Great Reaper raises his foot and tries to stamp Pit into the ground.

Pit fires a shot off at the toes of the Great Reaper and then runs for the purple glowing pad behind him so he can leap up to the higher level. Once there, he fires a few shots at the head, only for the titanic creature to respond by thrusting it's head forward, hitting Riku in the process and blowing him back against the nearby wall. Pit is then struck by the beam-like gaze of the Great Reaper, which freezes him entirely in place with a dumbfounded expression while a swarm of Reapettes show up and poke at Pit's skin with their scythes.

Once the young angel is able to move, he immediately lets out a series of "Ow's!" while leaping back and using a charged shot to simultaneously remove the Reapettes from sight and strike the Great Reaper square in the forehead. Riku peels himself from the wall behind Pit and pulls his sword back, smiting the blade with a lightning bolt to power it up, and as the hairs on Pit's skin go up he prepares another charge shot.

The Great Reaper raises his scythe up and prepares to cleave it across the platform in front of him to deal with Pit, but in his failure to recognize Riku as a threat he ends up being struck with a piercing bolt of electricity that travels through the air in a single second. The skull of the titan is cracked open, making him stagger forward with one hand on the crack on his skull. Pit received one enthusiastic order from Palutena "Pit, now!" and the young angel raised his Rose Staff at the crack once the Great Reaper pulls his hand away.

A charge shot goes out, piercing through the skin behind the cracked skull and causing a splurt of green light to erupt from the other side of the Great Reaper's head, with the titan swiftly losing his grip on his scythe and slowly falling backwards until the weight of his body drags him down with a heavy crash against the floor, which shakes the entire fortress while Pit casually swings his Rose Staff around and holds it over his right shoulder, saying in a relieved tone of voice "You know, that wasn't so bad."

Riku lands beside Pit and pats him once on the shoulder while dispelling his sword, saying to him "See? There's no reason to fear the reaper." Pit shrugs his shoulders and admits "I guess not, but then again, you and Lady Palutena had my back!" The teenage Overlord steps back and folds his arms while pointing out "You would have been fine on your own Pit, have some more confidence in yourself."

"He's right you know, perk that head up and be a little more confident, you managed to deal with your biggest fear." Palutena chimes in, and Pit blushes and rubs the back of his head while chuckling. But as he's in the middle of celebrating, he's suddenly struck with the gaze of a smaller Reaper, which came in to check on the commotion as the Great Reaper dissolves into a black and purple void down below the heroes.

As the Reaper can be heard freaking out, Riku and Pit are both struck with the gazes of at least a hundred more Reapers that must have just returned from their soul harvest. The angel's eyes widen in fright as the trembling fortress heralds the approach of the largest swarm of Reapettes. "No no no! This is not good!" Pit exclaims in a panic, and Palutena quickly says while summoning a pillar of light around Pit and Riku "You don't need to be here anymore anyways. I'm bringing you back before this gets nasty!"

Riku and Pit are called away from the Reaper's Fortress just like that, leaving the Reapers and Reapettes both confused and angered that the invaders managed to escape after killing their leader. Especially since now Palutena had the means to find out where Pandora was hiding…

_Next Time: The Deceiver_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 5: Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit**

After resting up a bit from the invasion of the Reaper's Fortress, Pit and Riku were once again sent out for another mission by Palutena. They exited through the same door as before, being deposited in a rather bland looking part of the sky hovering high above the ocean. The morning sun was up, but floated behind the two heroes as they moved through the air. Pit was kept in place for a few seconds, puzzled by why he and Riku were brought to this spot.

"The Reapers certainly did a good job hiding Pandora's maze…" Palutena comments in a rather impressed tone of voice, followed by Pit asking as he looks around "This doesn't look like a maze, Lady Palutena." "…I can definitely tell there's something nearby." Riku comments as a shiver goes through his skin. As Palutena takes Pit towards a particular part of the sky, a cross shape rift is torn open, revealing a swirling green void inside of another dimension.

"Whoa what?!" Pit says in shock as Palutena throws him towards the rift with her control over his flight. Riku follows close behind while the goddess comments "This is a space pocket Pit. Got to admit, Pandora is pretty crazy to put her base of operations inside one of these, right?" The angel looked around the void, feeling dizzy due to the combination of colors and movements, and as the rift behind him sadly closes he murmurs "I think my head's going to start spinning…"

"You'll be fine Pit, just take in some deep breaths and relax." Palutena says, and in turn Pit comments "Assuming the air is even breathable…" He was barely holding onto his sanity as the vortex changes to a weird tunnel composed of black and grey hole-filled walls that wave back and forth towards a white flash of light. At this point a few members of the Underworld Army start to make their presence known, forcing Pit and Riku into action.

This time, Pit had a rather odd weapon grafted onto his right arm. It was a rainbow-colored series of tattoos that reached towards his shoulder and left swirling mist around the arm as he prepared to use it in combat. With it he was able to fire off white orbs of energy that contained small traces of a neon aura around the edge. The Monoeyes and Miks that tried to attack were dealt with swiftly as the two heroes transitioned yet again, this time going into a another vortex that cycles through all the colors of the rainbow coming from two tunnels.

"Ugh, I don't think I can keep this up Lady Palutena…" Pit bemoans as the multiple transitions start to get on his nerves. Palutena wants to reassure her young angel that everything would be ok, but as she points out "Knowing Pandora, this labyrinth could go on for quite a while Pit" "But I only have five minutes of flight time!" Pit exclaims as his face contorts into a panicked expression.

"Calm down Pit and focus on ahead, there's still enemies to deal with." Palutena distracts Pit by pointing out the approaching Underworld Army, and the angel turns forward and works in unison with Riku to take them down with projectiles from afar. After clearing out another wave, another transition begins to occur, but instead of the environment changing a new element is introduced in the form of an eight-sided aquamarine passage.

Protrusions of blue and yellow metal pillars are all around the tunnel as the two heroes head in deeper, and they are forced to split apart and swerve around the protrusions while fending off the Underworld Army as they attempt to sneak in a few shots from afar. Pit takes a couple sphere blasts from the Monoeyes due to being psyched out from everything happening in the Labyrinth, and Riku quickly chimes in by saying "Pit, you can't let Pandora's tricks get to you."

"I know that, but I've never dealt with anything this twisted before." Pit says while sounding rather annoyed at Riku for saying anything to him about the maze. Palutena also chimes in by mentioning "Quite frankly I don't whether to be impressed or worried. She really put a lot of work into this maze…" Pit exclaims in disbelief towards Palutena "I think you should be worried for my safety here!"

"Why should I, you're perfect fi-…Whoa there!" Palutena's reassuring comment is forced to end as she sees Pit about ready to crash straight into a fake wall, which would have done who knows what to the young angel's body had he hit it. After Pit was jerked to the right, he flipped around and found his heart beating slightly and his expression left blank in disbelief. "…Uh-oh, I think we lost Pit." Palutena comments in a semi-worried tone of voice, but then Pit sighs out and murmurs "…I'm going to be so happy once we're done here."

Riku then flips around, cutting down two Miks with his blade before he swings to the right and flies forward to catch up with the angel, saying to him now that they had escaped the first wave of foes in this tunnel "Pit, if you're worried about your power of flight running out, just know that I'll be here to make sure you don't crash and burn."

Pit glances at the teenage Overlord and nods in an appreciative manner before Palutena mentions "Well that's good to hear…Considering the nature of labyrinth I was worried I wouldn't be able to extract you if things took too long." The angel then exclaims in disbelief "Wait, what?! You sent me without an extraction plan?! Are you insane Lady Palutena?!"

"Hehe, don't worry about it Pit, I should be able to get you out later. Pandora's powers are likely just interfering with my own." After saying this Palutena tugs Pit to the left to get him away from another fake wall, and Pit feels a bit of a sting on his back while murmuring out "Ow! Ow! Can you please be a little more gentle? I'm going to lose my wings before the power of flight can even run out!"

"Boy, aren't you just full of complaints today Pit. I guess we could just go back to the Reaper's Fortress…" Palutena is using her jovial tone to try and get Pit to change his attitude, and the angel quickly stutters out a reply of "S-Sorry Lady Palutena, I'll be good now, I promise!" The goddess chuckles, and Pit lets out a tired sigh as him and Riku dive down into a triangular tunnel. As multiple yellow doors block their paths, the two heroes have to make sure they go through the only one that opens up to continue advancing.

Meanwhile, Riku hears a slight chuckle coming from the black dragon Takashi, who comments to the teenage Overlord in his head _"Heh…Those two are like an older sister and her younger brother. Kind of reminds makes me wish Sodenko and I had this type of relationship when we were humans. You can't tell me that this doesn't get a laugh out of you, Riku." _The dragon was trying to plead to the teenage Overlord's emotions, but Riku merely replied with _"They're funny, yeah, but that's not going to elicit a laugh from me."_

As Takashi let out an annoyed sigh, Riku glanced up and saw that Pit was staring at him in a puzzled manner, and after a few seconds of awkward silence the angel turned forward and said "…Lady Palutena, I wasn't the only one hearing that, right?" "No Pit, I heard that conversation as well. It seems Riku has a couple little friends watching over him." The goddess' response surprised both Riku and Takashi, with the black dragon in particular mentioning to Riku _"Wait, those two can hear me? But I'm connected to YOUR mind."_

"…I probably should have told you that Palutena and Pit are kind of sharing residence in my mind as well. Anything you say, they can hear as well, I guess." Riku comments, and Palutena says in a straightforward tone "Yeeeep. So Riku, are you going to introduce us to your friend or is he going to do it himself?" In response the black dragon let out an embarrassed cough and answered with _"Sorry for not doing this sooner. It's a pleasure to meet you Palutena, I am Takashi."_

Takashi and Palutena then engage in a conversation for a bit, while Pit comments in a subdued tone of surprise towards Riku "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" "I get the feeling it comes with the role at this point." Riku dryly replies, and as Pit blasted down some more of the Underworld Army and entered a cylindrical chamber that had a prismatic effect on it's walls he said "Well, that's just another thing story for you to tell me once we get a moments rest."

As Pit is kept circling around the chamber, a series of silly looking hands with pointed pinkish claws for feet clamber across the walls, turning their red eyes towards Pit and…Not doing anything out of the ordinary besides that. The angel glances at them and says "Ummm…Hi?" Palutena then stops her conversation with the black dragon for a moment by mentioning "Oh look, it's a swarm of Handoras"

"Pandoras?! She's learned to multiply herself?!" Pit immediately goes into a panic and starts blasting down the Handoras with his Violet Palm, and while the goddess appreciates the enthusiasm she comments in a serious tone of voice "No Pit, Handoras. They're hands created by Pandora. Not exactly a subtle joke, is it?"

Pit lowers his Violet Palm and rubs the back of his head out of embarrassment towards his mistake while commenting "For a trickster, that's pretty weak on her part." "Anyways, time to take you out of this part of the labyrinth." Palutena says after a chuckle, and with her guidance Pit is sent towards the hole in the center of the room with Riku following behind. The Handoras don't put up any resistance as the two heroes entering a tunnel of pure light.

As they pierce through the light, they end up…Outside in the sunny skies above a glistening lakeside? Pit and Palutena were both caught off-guard by that, though the goddess notes Riku's lack of reaction as she says to the young angel "Pit, I hope you aren't thinking this is real." Pit twitches for a moment, showing that he was indeed fooled as he says to the contrary "N-Not at all Lady Palutena."

After flying through this sunny expanse for a bit, everything suddenly becomes pitch black save for Pit and Riku, but this effect lasts but a few seconds before the two heroes find themselves back in the tunnel from earlier, though it was clear that they weren't repeating the past when they see two passages waiting for them up ahead. "How many more tricks can Pandora throw at us?" Pit says, showing a slight boredom at Pandora's deception.

"Who knows, we haven't even found a spot to land yet." Palutena comments, and then as her murmuring can be heard quietly in the background she says "I'm going to have you go left up ahead Pit, I THINK that might be the way to Pandora." Pit comments in a saddened tone of voice "I wish you were a little more certain Lady Palutena, but I guess you're just as blind as I am this time…"

"Sorry Pit…" Palutena sounded disappointed in herself for being unable to do more, but then uses her powers to move Pit towards the left tunnel. Riku follows while commenting towards the goddess to cheer her up "You're doing a fine enough job Palutena. So long as you keep your wits about you, we'll find Pandora eventually. I just wish I was able to do something more, but Pandora isn't tied to an element, being the goddess of calamity and all."

As the two heroes travel through the leftward tunnel, Palutena's smile can be felt as she warmly says "Thank you Riku." Pit comments as well by saying in a complimenting tone "Whenever I'm in trouble Lady Palutena, you're always there to guide me. I don't know what I'd do without you around." "Thank you, Pit…" The goddess felt even more touched by the young angel thanking her for her help.

"_Heh…Those two are perfect for each other, whether it be as an older sister and younger brother, or perhaps as something more…" _Takashi's comment causes Pit to blush slightly, and the black dragon then mentions _"Wouldn't you agree, Sodenko?" _The white dragon was silent in response for a few moments, followed by her murmuring out in a gentle tone _"Brother…How often did I hurt you when we were young?"_

"…_Quite often, why do you ask?" _Takashi says in a puzzled tone of voice while Riku listens on, his and Pit's bodies flying into an illusionary landscape resembling the gorgeous depths of space itself. _"There has never been a point where I have ever treated you with respect, is there? …I'm sorry, I have been a terrible sister." _The apologetic remark caught Takashi and Riku by surprise, with the black dragon cracking a grin in the other realm that showed a little bit of pride towards his own sister for admitting her mistakes for the first time, even if it was two-thousand years overdue.

"Hate to interrupt the tender moment, but I've almost got a peg on Pandora's main base!" Palutena exclaims, and after being distracted by the conversation between the two dragons Pit turns forward and notices a couple launch pads on a single broken asteroid. Choosing to take the left one, Pit and Riku are launched towards a fake asteroid, puncturing through it to end up in an almost digital-like realm with wire green and black walls close by where they fly.

Some more Underworld Army soldiers show up again, but once more they prove the futility of their actions by being dispatched of immediately. As the tunnel starts becoming bright and the colors invert, another eight-sided tunnel appears before the two heroes, and all it took was one more wave of resistance before they exit through it and Palutena comments "We're finally at the landing spot."

There was a single empty chamber and a lone platform for Pit to land on, and the angel almost couldn't believe that this place would be so vacant after all the other mayhem Pandora had sent his way. As he sets foot on the ground, he lets out a merry sigh of relief, only for him to be caught by surprise as the chamber's gravity is flipped entirely, and with Palutena's power of flight abruptly removed Pit falls face first against the hard ground below. He lets out a quiet but pained "Ow…" afterwards.

He rises back onto his feet, with Palutena commenting "Well, guess I should've known better, but at least we're here now." Pit rubs the sorest part of his chin and comments "Yeah. Hopefully the tricks will stop here, but considering it's Pandora…" "It'd be against her nature to stop. At least we won't have to deal with her again after this mission." Riku says as he slowly glides down beside Pit, showing that he was unaffected by the gravity switch.

Pit and Riku head through the door in front of them and start to traverse through Pandora's base, but as they do so they are greeted by a rather bored sounding, passive but feminine tone of voice "Ah, so we have a couple of adventurers." Pit immediately looks around and exclaims "Pandora, the goddess of calamity!" Her voice could only be heard through the telepathic connection the two heroes had with Palutena.

"We decided to make ourselves at home, hope you don't mind." Palutena says in a taunting tone of voice, and Pandora replies dully "Go right ahead, it doesn't bother me at all. But just for future reference, the whole 'goddess of calamity' thing is so old school…The new me prefers simpler things, like yoga, macrobiotics, reflexology…" Pit leans one hand against his chin while saying "I may not know what half of those things are, but it sounds like you need feet for them."

"…Quite the smart-mouth, aren't you?" Pandora notes, following up by saying "Besides, you and the human you are with are more responsible for causing calamity these days than I am." "That's crazy talk!" Pit exclaims with a not very thought out answer, while Riku goes silent for a few seconds. Pandora then stops talking afterwards, and Riku and Pit run through the base to try and find the newly proclaimed "goddess of not-calamity".

It doesn't take long before the two find a room with five doors blocking their ways, forcing Pit to take pause and glance back and forth at them all. "Ho boy…Do I have to pick one?" He asks, followed by Palutena commenting "You have a 20% chance of continuing on Pit, but I can't pick which one is the right door." "Just to be safe, don't go through a door all the way." Riku advises afterwards.

"But what if opening a door causes a trap to activate? I could end up cut in half, dropping into a pit, or having a pie thrown in my face!" Pit's priorities were clearly skewed by the fact that he seemed more worried about the pie than the other two options. Pandora then chimed in by saying "A pie in the face? What do I look like to you, the goddess of immature pranks?"

Riku folds his arms together and points out to the calamity goddess "And yet you set up those fake walls for us back in the flight section." Pandora responds cleanly with "That was a deceptive prank, not an immature one. There is a clear difference, little human." The teenage Overlord sighs and then looks at Pit, saying to him "Anyways, lets try the second one from the right first." For once, he didn't feel certain about his decision.

Pit slowly approaches the door Riku suggested, and it opened up due to his approach. Thankfully, behind that door was the way out, which was a small passage with another door at the end. "Hmm…Lucky guess, congratulations." Pandora said in an unsurprised tone of voice. "Good work Pit, now keep moving on." Palutena said in a praising tone, followed by Riku glancing up with a raised eyebrow despite not having anything to say.

Pit smiled, though a little bit of nervous sweat was trickling down his face as he advanced onward. After a couple more rooms and a little bit of resistance from the Underworld Army, the two heroes end up in a wide-open room with a fresh atmosphere and a bunch of ramps scattered around. There was another door on the other side, and a golden two-wheeled vehicle at the center of the room. The vehicle was armored and had three horns at the front of it that made it look like a beetle.

"A vehicle of the gods? What's that doing here?" Pit comments as he leaps down and dashes for the vehicle. Riku leaps down and follows while Pandora comments "I may have discarded that title, but I was once a goddess, with all the perks that entailed." Pit leaps onto the beetle tank and grabs onto the handles, then glances up and says "Well no, I'm just wondering why you have one of these when you don't have feet."

"…You are just going to keep rubbing that fact in, aren't you, little angel?" Pandora sounded a tiny bit annoyed that Pit brought that matter up again. Pit revs up the engine of the beetle tank and starts to drive it through the area, testing it's maneuverability and firepower on the Underworld Army by running them over and blasting them with the little turrets. He was clearly having fun as his joyous chuckling echoed throughout the room, and Riku just stood in place with arms folded and said "…I hope he doesn't forget our mission."

"Eh, it's alright for him to take a break. Besides, I'm just looking at the craftsmanship of this room. How did you pull it off Pandora?" Palutena asks after responding to Riku's remark. Pandora answers with a delighted sounding "With plenty of sweat, tears, and hard labor. I was so tired when all was said and done, but I just LOVED how it all turned out. Perhaps you will find your way to the race-track soon."

"But how can you build something without any hands?" Pit asks while zipping past Riku, his voice becoming quieter as he goes farther away. Pandora sarcastically replies "…From now on I am just going to ignore any comments regarding my lack of limbs, thank you very much. Though just to shut you up…The minions did it."

As she explains herself to the angel, Riku glances behind him and notices a Skuttler bonking himself on the head with his bone club before Pit ends up running him over with the beetle tank. "…I imagine it took quite a while to get the job done." Riku dryly comments, and Pandora murmurs "It's the unfortunate result of the minions having such tiny brains. Oh well, what are you going to do?"

After Pit has destroyed enough of the Underworld Army, a bounce pad appears in front of the door they need to enter through to continue onward. Pit gets off of the beetle tank and runs to the bounce pad while Riku leaps up to join him. It was there that the young angel asked "So Lady Palutena, why are we going after Pandora again? She doesn't seem to be causing trouble." Palutena quickly explains "Have you ever heard of the Mirror of Truth, Pit?"

"Not really, no." Pit bluntly replies. "Well perhaps Mrs. Know-it-all here can tell you!" Pandora exclaims, leaving Palutena taken aback for a moment before she says to the two heroes "The Mirror of Truth makes of a copy of whatever stands before it." Pit smiles at the thought of this and says "So, hypothetically speaking, it could turn one ice-cream sundae into two?"

As Pit licked his lips and held his hands together in content thought, Pandora sarcastically stated "And that's why you're one of the great minds of our time." "Sorry to disappoint you Pit, but the Mirror of Truth works by copying what's in your heart and creates beings identical in nature. In other words…" "Pandora has the power to create entire armies for Medusa." Riku finishes the sentence off in a serious tone of voice as he and Pit finish crossing the pits in the next room.

"Then we have to destroy it! …But wait, does it just copy the body, or does it copy the soul as well?" Pit had a rather interesting inquiry about the whole ordeal, to which Palutena said "That's a good question. Pandora, would you be willing to tell us?" Pandora bluntly comments "Do I LOOK like a strategy guide? In case you haven't noticed, this ISN'T the Ask Auntie Pandora hour!"

"She makes a good point, especially when she yells." Pit comments after cringing slightly from the tone of voice Pandora took. Afterwards, Riku and Pit cross through a few more rooms in the labyrinth, including one where the floors were bouncy and a beetle tank race track. After clearing that room and finding one where the floor needed to be shot at to reveal the way, Pit commented "With all this stuff around here, it's almost like Pandora is trying to make an amusement park."

"An eeeevil amusement park." Palutena says in a spooky, drawn out tone of voice. Pandora then chimes in bluntly with "Now that's just misguided generalization. Not everything created by the Underworld Army is evil. I mean after all, you had some harmless fun back there, isn't that right, little angel?" Pit folded his arms together and hesitantly admitted as fond memories flow through his mind "Well…I guess so."

"I knew an evil scientist who once tried to pass off being reformed by creating an amusement park. Turns out he had planned to mind control the world with alien energy." Riku comments towards Pandora, and the supposedly ex-goddess of calamity says "And?" Which leads to the teenage Overlord mentioning "Your still trying to cause confusion and mayhem with this little 'amusement park' of yours. Old habits die hard, don't they?"

"Big deal, so I'm making some trick rooms here and there, haven't you ever heard of a fun house?" Pandora comments in a dry tone of voice, and Palutena says in turn "There's nothing fun about creating an army for Medusa, Pandora." Pandora replies by pointing out "It's not my fault Medusa dropped the mirror into my possession. She could have easily given it to Tanatos but noooo…"

"Well whatever the case may be, you have the Mirror of Truth now, so for the sake of stopping the Underworld Army from growing any further, I will defeat you and destroy the mirror!" Pit exclaims triumphantly, and Pandora dully says "If you say so…" She then drops the conversation, since it wouldn't be much longer before Pit and Riku would reach her room.

A couple more bridges are crossed, and the two heroes end up going through a short dark passage to end up inside a large, wide-open room with a purple hazy atmosphere and a single six-sided mirror at the very opposite end of the room. With Pit running up ahead, Pandora emerges from behind the mirror, showing herself to be a rather large blue ember with rugged pink-rimmed white eyes and a yellow ring wrapped at the top of her embers.

Pandora forced a rather disturbing smile as she dully stated "You made it. Yay." Pit stops in place in the center of the room and says the ex-goddess' name. While he was standing there, the young angel suddenly swung his arm out in an over-the-top manner while proclaiming "Underling of Medusa floating before me! It's time for you to atone for your crimes!" When the second sentence rolls around, Pit turns his back to Pandora and then glances over his right shoulder, flicking his hair up while putting on a cheesy grin.

Pit then rises onto his tippy-toes and twirls around while spreading his wings, an inexplicable background of orange and radiant light appearing behind him as he proclaimed "I am Pit, servant of the goddess of light!" With arms outstretched, Pit then proceeded to swing his right arm forward and freeze in a battle-ready pose while proclaiming confidently "And you. Are. History!"

Riku approached Pit from behind with a rather blank expression on his face, and both Pandora and Palutena were utterly speechless until the goddess of light stated "…Well, that came out of nowhere" in a completely dumbfounded tone of voice. Pit then stood upright and looked a little embarrassed for his routine, but then immediately firmed his expression and held his Violet Palm towards Pandora ready for battle.

Pandora flared up as though ready to fight as well, and as she opened her mouth to launched and attack Pit quickly responded with a fully charged shot from his Violet Palm. The attack hit Pandora square in the head and she responds by…being launched back first against the ground? Pit was completely puzzled by this and commented "H-Huh? That's it?" Pandora dryly admitted ""Well duh…I am an ex-goddess of deception and calamity…Not exactly much of a fighter. So here, I'll give you what you want…"

Pandora then warps in front of the Mirror of Truth, using her mind to pull it around her body and causing it to shine with a bright light as Pit's reflection alone can be seen in it due to Riku making his presence scarce for a moment. As the Mirror releases blinding flashes of light, Palutena proclaims "Pit, destroy the mirror!" The angel wastes little time in running towards the mirror while letting out a powerful cry, leaping towards the Mirror while extending his right foot out to kick it apart.

But as he gets close to the Mirror the light starts to fade away, showing Pit's reflection perfectly yet again for a few seconds. Before he can kick through the glass, the eyes of the reflection glow red and the body is surrounded by a dark aura, puzzling Pit as his kick goes straight through the center of the Mirror of Truth. The glass is shattered, but another Pit flies through the air in the opposite direction Pit was going. The young angel lands on the ground and flips around alongside the other Pit, letting out a gasp of "What the…?"

The other Pit stands on the ground with an almost overconfident posture, his clothes, wings and hair being completely black in comparison to Pit's holy design. Glancing over his shoulder, the other Pit let out a single "Hey" in an overtly smug tone that sounded slightly deeper than Pit's own voice. As the dark aura fades around his body, the other Pit flips around and holds one hand on his hip while Pandora floats towards him from behind, commenting in a delighted tone of voice "Ohoho, I love it when a plan comes together. Let's get down to business, shall we? This here is Dark Pit, and he'll be your escort out of this life!"

As Pandora's body floats dangerously close to Dark Pit, the black angel casually raises his left fist up and backhands Pandora's square in the face, blowing her away as she lets out a surprised proclamation of "No!" As the ex-goddess of calamity tumbles along the ground for a few seconds, Dark Pit brushes off her declaration by saying to her bluntly "Speak for yourself." He then summons forth his own Violet Palm in his right hand and turns towards her as she rises back into the air, her body becoming red out of anger.

"You FOOL! You were created to serve me! Your opponent is over there!" Pandora says in an outraged tone of voice, and with teeth grit and his fist clenched in disbelief Dark Pit proclaims "You're A boss, Pandora. But you're not MY boss!" Pit glances back and forth at the two as they begin to engage in battle, and while scratching the back of his head he asks "Wait, so was creating Dark Pit Pandora's plan all along?"

"Well, having an angel on your side CAN come in handy. And he's quite the little scrapper, wouldn't you agree?" Palutena replies in a humored tone as Dark Pit gets in close to Pandora and punches her square in the face with the energy from the Violet Palm, causing her to force a teleport that takes her right behind the real Pit, where turns red and opens her mouth ready to suck the angel into her vortex of despair. Pit turns around to fight back, but with the suction dragging him towards her he wasn't able to focus well enough.

But Pit is saved when Dark Pit fires off a charged shot from his weapon that hits Pandora's square between the eyes, throwing off her concentration as she's launched back. Dark Pit then runs forward, shoving Pit with his right arm while proclaiming "If you're going to be useless then get out of my way!" The young angel was offended as he said bluntly "Wow…He's a big jerk. Is he seriously my duplicate?"

"Sigh…The Mirror of Truth reflects what's in the soul. I guess I should have known better than to expect an angel to work for the Underworld Army." Pandora bemoans in a very defeated sounding tone of voice as she launches a series of purplish fireballs from the air down at Pit and Dark Pit. Pit sweeps across the ground to dodge the attack, and Dark Pit mirrors his actions perfectly. "At the very least, it seems Dark Pit has all of your experience. This is perfect, work together to take Pandora down for good!" Palutena explains.

"Roger that Lady Palutena!" Pit's obedient response causes Dark Pit to glance at him and let out a disgusted scoff before he focuses his sights back on the ex-goddess of calamity. Meanwhile, Riku is standing far away from the battle while saying to Palutena "I'll just sit this one out, those two can handle things on their own." The teenage Overlord then glances at the silver frame of the Mirror of Truth as it clangs against the ground, appreciating the fact that a copy of himself wasn't made from it.

Pit and Dark Pit worked in tandem against Pandora, whose attempts to fight back resulted in her either getting shot in the face with charge shots or being struck with a punch from Dark Pit, who seemed to prefer physical combat to the projectile based one Pit relied on. "This is really, REALLY irritating!" Pandora exclaims after being knocked to the ground for what was now the sixth time, and Dark Pit stoically tells her off with "Well you wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't such a failure, Pandora."

"How dare you, you insolent little co-GAAAAAH!" While Pandora was wasting her time responding to Dark Pit's taunt, the original Pit fired off one final charge shot from his Violet Palm, silencing her with a swift defeat. Dark Pit glances back in an annoyed manner and says "Took you long enough…" Meanwhile, Pandora collapses on the ground behind him, exploding into a pile of slowly collapsing blue flames that Pit looks at for a few seconds in surprise.

Pit then awkwardly walks up to Dark Pit, amazed that he's pretty much looking in a mirror when he sees how perfectly he was copied. "So hey…We may have gotten off to a rough start, but since you helped us stop Pandora…" For his efforts to try and communicate with his copy, Pit is swiftly kicked in the stomach by Dark Pit, the fierceness of blow winding the young angel and making him collapse onto the ground while Dark Pit brushes him off and exclaims in a peeved tone "And that's for ripping off my look!"

Pit was dumbfounded as he lifted his head up and saw Dark Pit run for Pandora's corpse, murmuring out in a weakened tone of voice "I'M the original here!" Dark Pit just ignores him as he dives right into Pandora's remains, taking a couple tumbles along the ground before bending forward with the blue flames of Pandora surrounding his body. Palutena exclaims in a puzzled manner "What are you doing?!"

The blue flames then subside as Dark Pit turns around and cracks a confident grin, his wings extending out with a dark purple glow as he takes off from the ground and says bluntly "Making sure that Pandora's powers don't go to waste." Dark Pit then flies up towards the ceiling, making Pit note as he tries to pull himself off the floor "He can fly?!"

Riku walks up beside Pit, leading to Palutena declaring to him "Riku, what are you waiting for? Go after him!" The teenage Overlord brushes one hand out and says "No offense Palutena, but I don't think Dark Pit's a problem." The goddess of light urgently points out "He has Pandora's powers! He's likely to join up with Medusa if we leave him to his own devices…Never mind, he's already gotten away now."

"S-Sorry it ended up this way, Lady Palutena." Pit bemoans apologetically, which is then followed up with Palutena summoning a pillar of light around him and Riku while commenting "It's not your fault Pit. All we can do now is pursue Dark Pit and hope he doesn't end up finding Medusa." Pit and Riku are swiftly called away from the labyrinth, their next missions to stop Dark Pit now made painfully clear…

_Next Time: Duel of the Duplicates_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 6: Dark Pit**

As much as Pit wanted to get a little bit of rest after getting the wind kicked out of him by his newly formed duplicate, Palutena quickly sent him and Riku back out on another mission, urgently proclaiming as they head out the door "There's no time to rest, I've already located Dark Pit!" Leaping right out of the door into the sunset skies without hesitation Pit exclaimed "Where is he?!" The moment the power of flight is activated, Pit is blown away by a strong gust of wind coming from the fast moving flight of Dark Pit.

As Pit regains control of himself, Dark Pit turns his head around and pulls out his new weapon, the First Blade, and fires two blue lasers that Pit is forced to swerve away from as Palutena forces him to catch up. Once the two were close by, Pit took out his weapon, a hand-sized ruby colored cannon that attached perfectly to the front of his knuckles. Thrusting his Compact Arm out to block a slash from Dark Pit, the two exchange a few blows that knock each other back before Dark Pit chooses to back off momentarily.

Pit is pulled back, and Dark Pit starts to glide through the air a fair distance away from his original. Pit scowls at his clone, and Dark Pit says in a taunting tone of voice "Took you long enough!" "What is your problem?!" Pit bluntly inquires without hesitation, but Dark Pit doesn't reply as he speeds up and starts to fly for one of the large, cloudy vortexes rising up from the top of the clouds.

Dark Pit flips around and fires a few more shots at Pit, and Pit retaliates with a large yellow sphere from his Compact Arm that absorbs the shots and hits Dark Pit square on. A shockwave erupts from around his body and creates the sound of shattering glass, with the aura around his wings breaking apart slightly, causing him to turn around and retreat to recover from a safe distance. Pit tries to fly after him, but even Palutena can't keep up with his speed.

"Are you with the Underworld Army?! Is that why you have it out for me?!" Pit exclaims to try and demand some answers from his duplicate, and Dark Pit turns around while pointing out in a ridiculing tone of voice "Don't be ridiculous! I just don't like the idea of someone copying my act!" Pit, his expression flaring up with anger, swung his arms out and exclaimed in disbelief "What?! But you're a copy of ME!"

Dark Pit smugly tries to rationalize his logic by saying "Come on now. Think about it. If I was a copy, why would I kick my own butt?" Even the usually dim-witted Pit pointed out "I can think of at least five good reasons!" But then he whispered out "Psst, Lady Palutena, give me five good reasons, quickly…" The goddess merely let out a frustrated sigh at this whole affair.

As Pit and Dark Pit had their confrontation, Riku stayed quite a distance away from them as he flew, causing Palutena to point out in an admonishing tone of voice "You're welcome to help out at any time, Riku." The teenage Overlord calmly suggested in turn "No offense Palutena, but I really think we're wasting time going after Dark Pit. We should be going after the Underworld Army…"

"Well would you look at that, someone else here has some brains." Dark Pit mockingly comments, and in a slow and calm tone of voice Palutena explains to Riku "Listen, Riku. While Dark Pit is fueled by Pandora's powers, he's just as much of a threat as the rest of the army. He HAS to be stopped." "I get that, but all he's done so far is fly around with Pandora's powers." Riku points out.

"AND kick me in the stomach!" Pit exclaims while glancing back at Riku in a disbelieving manner, and Palutena is forced to pull him to the right since that distraction allows Dark Pit to fire a shot at him. "Yep, all I'm doing is flying around. Clearly I'm the biggest threat at the moment." Dark Pit dryly states, and Palutena says "I hope you aren't planning to stop us, Riku."

"Not at all, I'll interfere if Dark Pit does anything dangerous to the humans." Riku points out in a reassuring tone. Afterwards, Dark Pit flies into the large swirling vortex at long last, with Pit and Riku going after him as he dives down towards the surface of the planet. Palutena has to keep Pit from being blown away for a few seconds, but in pushing against the winds of the vortex Dark Pit is able to get away once they make it to the surface.

The rocky plains looked gorgeous with the sunset's light glowing across it, but Pit was too focused on Dark Pit's speck-sized body in the distance to care about the beauty of nature. Even worse than that, members of the Underworld Army had begun to appear, suggesting that Medusa had been alerted of Dark Pit's acquisition of Pandora's powers.

Palutena speeds Pit up to go after Dark Pit, while Riku glides beside him for a moment and says "I'll fend off the Underworld Army, just focus on Dark Pit." "Thanks Riku." Pit said in an appreciative tone of voice as he keeps a serious expression on his face. Riku glides off while drawing his sword, cutting down members of the Underworld Army like they were pieces of paper, but as he did so another voice cut in on the whole ordeal.

"You're a real go-getter, Dark Pit. I like that." The voice sounded a lot like Pandora's, but more malicious and imposing in tone. Despite the person directing her focus towards Dark Pit, everyone could hear her speak. "Medusa…" Riku murmured the person's name to himself as he cuts down a large, whale-like creature that was spewing out smaller members of the Underworld Army. "Is that so?" Dark Pit replied in an unimpressed tone.

"Yes, though I AM curious how you plan to best your doppelganger." Medusa's words made Dark Pit lower his eyebrows in a curious manner for a moment, and the goddess of darkness chose to entice the black angel a little more by suggesting "Of course, destroying Pit would be a snap with a little help from me." Dark Pit bluntly tells her off with a simple "Don't make me laugh."

He then looks on ahead without a care as members of the Underworld Army appear to impede his progress. "Did I say something funny?" Medusa asked in a serious tone of voice as it becomes swiftly clear to Dark Pit that the vile goddess wasn't planning to take no for an answer. Drawing out his First Blade, Dark Pit tells Medusa off simply with "You've got me confused with the other guy. THIS Pit is no pawn."

He makes his points clear by blasting down the Underworld Army in front of him with a series of precise shots, and in an insulted tone of voice he proclaims "I'll take care of him, but only after I finish you!" Medusa is silenced in surprise by this alongside Pit and Palutena, and Dark Pit rockets off to another part of this canyon landscape. "Now this is a little…bizarre…" Medusa comments after getting her bearings on the situation.

"I know, right? The mouth on that guy! I'd never talk like that." Pit says, in a way feeling as though Dark Pit's behavior was his fault, but Medusa bluntly tells him "That's not what I meant. The Mirror of Truth created your dark counterpart, so his allegiance should be to the Underworld Army." Palutena hums to herself while Pit looks a little embarrassed for his mistake.

"It could be that Pit destroying the mirror prematurely prevented the copy from being completed." Palutena offers her own explanation as to what happened, and with her knowledge of the mirror Medusa agreed with a remark of "That would make the most sense. Very well, I will just have to subjugate that clone to my will by force then!" Medusa then drops out of the conversation for the moment and sends a horde of Underworld soldiers at Dark Pit, considering him to be a higher priority than the real deal.

"Lady Palutena, I get the feeling Riku has a point here. Dark Pit's not doing anything bad besides trying to defeat me, so why am I going after him?" Pit inquires, and Palutena has to remind him of what she mentioned earlier "He still has Pandora's powers, remember? Combine that with his aggressive nature, and he's a threat to everyone." "He does seem pretty aggro, but still…" Pit had a bit of doubts about what he was doing here.

"He's a clone, Pit, his very existence in unnatural. He has to be eliminated." Palutena spoke in a surprisingly bloodthirsty tone of voice, and the words chosen at the begin made Riku flinch and glance towards the sky in a bitter manner. Though saying something now would just distract from the goal at hand, so Riku sealed his lips and continued to fly after Dark Pit, for he had something in mind once he inevitably reached the ground.

"Ok…It's still kind of weird being asked to take out yourself, but you explained it pretty well Lady Palutena." Pit says, focusing back on his mission with a renewed vigor, though it seems Dark Pit had long since vanished from sight, forcing Palutena to take Pit towards the direction of the cliffs since that was the last place she saw him going towards.

As they head for the cliffs, the sky can be seen filling with some dark clouds that helped give the place a relaxed atmosphere, though the only person who was likely relaxed at the moment was Dark Pit. Pit, trying to take the focus off of his mission for a moment, asked Palutena "So the Mirror of Truth was responsible for creating most of the Underworld Army, right? But since I destroyed it, that shouldn't be happening anymore, right?"

"If that were true, then their numbers would be shrinking. But that's not happening." Palutena says after a moment's pause, contemplating the matter for a bit afterwards now that she realizes she hadn't thought of that beforehand. "Then where is Medusa getting all these reinforcements from?" Pit inquires after seeing a swarm of Monoeyes going for the deeper parts of the canyon, where a couple shots from Dark Pit's weapon can be seen blasting through them moments later.

"I have no clue, but there's something very strange about them, specifically their souls. We can't do much about this right now, so just stay focused on Dark Pit, alright?" Palutena foils Pit's plan to stop focusing on his dark counterpart, resulting in him letting out a sigh and murmuring "Alright, alright…" before he looks back on ahead. As Palutena carries Pit over two cliffs, the goddess then comments to the teenage Overlord "Riku, you noticed it too, didn't you?"

"Hmmm?" Riku comments in a puzzled manner, to which Palutena says "The souls, to be precise. I heard that the Elemental Overlord has some connection to the matters of the afterlife, so I figured you might have something to say on the ones inside of the Underworld Army." "Sorry to say, I can't really interact with a soul unless I take on a different form. And I don't want to play my trump cards for something as simple as a soul scan." Riku explains in an apologetic tone.

"I see…" Palutena was intrigued by the response given, and then said to Riku "Anyways, I sealed off my connection to Pit for a moment so I could talk to you about this. I better open it back up in case he has been trying to reach me again." Palutena manages to do so just in time for Medusa to return to the conversation, mentioning in a surprised tone of voice "So you're the ones who defeated Pandora, right?"

She seemed to be a bit nonchalant about the whole thing, causing Pit to comment "Not very concerned for someone who just lost one of her top commanders, are you?" To which Medusa points out "Pandora's body may be gone, but her powers live on in Dark Pit." Dark Pit sarcastically replies as he glides around the pillars in the canyon "Another astute observation from the supreme leader of the Underworld."

"You are a prickly one, aren't you? Even so, your power of flight seems to outlast Palutena's." Medusa's comment makes Palutena say "I can't say I'm not envious" in an honest tone of voice, and Pit reassures her with a simple "Hey, don't let her get to you Lady Palutena." "I'm not Pit. Besides, who's to say that Dark Pit's power won't eventually run out?" Palutena replies.

"I'm pretty certain absorbing the remains of a goddess would entail more than five minutes of flight time." Riku says dryly. This finally leads Medusa to comment on the teenage Overlord's presence by stating "Hmm…I can't believe I didn't notice this before now. Just what is this human doing here?" "Medusa, Riku; Riku, Medusa…Ok, introductions are out of the way now, let's move on." Palutena tries to hasten the conversation quickly, but that failed to stop the goddess of darkness.

"Now hold on just a second there. A human capable of flying, a sword drawn from the mind, and I believe I caught you using some fire on my minions back there…You're the Elemental Overlord, aren't you?" Medusa deduced Riku's true identity rather quickly, which caused Palutena to let out a worried "Tch!" before the teenage Overlord said "You could say that. It's a pleasure to meet you, Medusa."

"Hmm, considering your nature, I thought you'd despise me. But to think Palutena, that you would be so desperate to defeat me that you'd hire the assistance of this youth." Medusa taunts Palutena for her weakness, but Riku makes haste to defend her by stating "She did no such thing. I came here of my own free will." "Interesting. But despite the reputation of your predecessor, I see no reason to fear you, Elemental Overlord. No matter what adversities you may have triumphed over before, gods and goddesses such are on a completely different level than them. I will make certain that you experience that firsthand."

"Likewise, I have no reason to fear a puppet." Riku says in a cold tone, and the goddess of darkness firmly murmured "I beg your pardon?" The teenage Overlord closed his eyelids and explained "After all, Pit alone is enough to defeat you, just like he managed before. I don't even know why you bothered trying to conquer the humans again, Medusa."

"…I am not one who is easily humored, Elemental Overlord, so consider it an honor to have made me laugh." Medusa comments, and Pit exclaims "We'll see who'll be laughing later, Medusa! Cause when we're done with Dark Pit, we're coming after you!" "Speaking of your dark counterpart, have you been keeping an eye on him?" Medusa comments, and after a momentary pause Pit's confident expression changes to one of panic as he glances around and realizes that he completely lost track of Dark Pit's whereabouts.

It takes him a bit of time to see his dark counterpart flying towards a set of mountaintop ruins, and Palutena comments after noticing him "We're heading to the ground Pit, stay sharp, we've got work to do now!" Medusa chimes in as well by mentioning slyly "As do I…After all, my troops will need to be deployed to find Dark Pit and impede your efforts." Frustrated as he's sent towards the southern part of the ruins, Pit exclaims to Medusa "Oh come on, is that really necessary?!"

Medusa goes silent, and Pit and Riku prepare to land on the ground in pursuit of Dark Pit. By now the sun has set enough to create a purple glow in the air when combined with the clouds, giving the ruins a rather eerie feel. Some Miks and Monoeyes scatter throughout the ruins from above, leading Pit to comment "Great, I guess Medusa has lost track of Dark Pit as well."

"Yeah, Pittoo has likely cut off his connection to me and Medusa so he can have the element of surprise. But he's just as blind as we are when it comes to these ruins, so he probably can't go very far." Palutena explains, and Pit raises an eyebrow at the name before commenting "Huh? Pittoo?" Palutena proudly says "It's a combination of Pit and Two. Pretty clever, huh?"

Pit chuckles and notes "But that's not as good as Ptooey, right? Right?" His attempt to force a laugh from Palutena was met with awkward silence, to which the young angel shakes off his goofy smile and gets serious again, saying to reconfirm facts "So the plan is to find…Pittoo and take him out, right?" Palutena happily proclaims "Bingo!"

"So where do we start?" Riku inquires. "That's a good question. The Underworld Army will likely be lured to Dark Pit due to him having Pandora's powers, so try and find the biggest concentration of them, and that will lead you to Dark Pit. Splitting up might not be a bad idea as well." Palutena answers, and Pit says in an optimistic tone "Good idea! I'll tackle the north, Riku can handle the south!"

"Wow, you're ready to go, aren't you Pit?" Palutena says after taking a moment to giggle, and Pit firmly pumps his Compact Arm into the air while stating "Of course! I can't let Pittoo cause any trouble, not while he looks just like me! I mean, wouldn't it suck if the humans thought I was their enemy?" The teenage Overlord glances at Pit and says "So you plan to make Dark Pit look black AND blue, is that right?"

"Well, it would make him look different from me, wouldn't it? Anyways, if you find Pittoo, then let me know, I'll come over and take him out!" Pit says, running off towards the ruins before Riku could say anymore. "Glad to see he's got a lot of energy." Riku comments towards Palutena, and the goddess replies immediately with "Hehe…That's Pit for ya, all energy, little foresight. Anyways, I'll keep the line open for you, but I'll be mostly talking with Pit."

"That's fine with me…" Riku says, glancing towards the left part of the sky to notice a single Monoeye heading for the ground. Running through the ruins to avoid detection from Dark Pit, Riku makes his way to a desolate fountain and then takes a sharp turn to the left, heading between some rocks and leaping off a ledge in order to reach a rugged but slanted wide-open area. Around there, Dark Pit was busy taking down Underworld Army members just as easily as Pit would, and he was done in about a minute with Riku watching him from afar.

Once Dark Pit was done, Riku began to approach him with a cool head and a plan in mind. The black angel casually turned his First Blade at his approaching foe and fired a charged shot, but the teenage Overlord took his right hand out and clenched his fingers around the beam to destroy it. Unamused, Dark Pit says in a disappointed tone of voice as he lowers his First Blade beside his hip "Oh, it's you. Let me guess, you're running errands for your divine master, Elemental Overlord?" There was a hint of mockery in his voice as he spoke Riku's title.

"If that was my intention I wouldn't have let you see me. No, I came here to have a quick talk." Riku says, and Dark Pit turns around and waves his left hand into the air while saying "Not interested, I have no beef with you unless you plan to get in my way." The black angel activates his power of flight and prepares to take off, but Riku forces him to stay grounded by summoning forth vines from the ground to wrap around Dark Pit's legs.

As Dark Pit tries to jerk himself free while attempting to take flight, he lets out a couple struggling grunts before choosing to stay on the ground. Seeing little resistance from the black angel, Riku lets go of him so he can turn around, but Dark Pit fires off another quick bolt from the First Blade under the assumption that Riku would have his guard down. The teenage Overlord proves him wrong by swinging his hand up and batting the bolt away, causing it to hit the ground so Pit wouldn't be alerted of what was going on.

Dark Pit then paused for a moment, holding his First Blade down while saying "Ok, you have my attention now. What do you want?" He was very impatient in his tone, which means Riku didn't have time to waste with what he planned to say. Folding his arms together, Riku glared at Dark Pit and said to him "If you are going to go around destroying the Underworld Army and Medusa, then wouldn't it make more sense to join Palutena's side? Pit aside, you don't really have any reason not to, right?"

"Wrong on both counts." Dark Pit bluntly replies, followed by him explaining "I'm not doing this to help Palutena out. I'm doing this because Medusa and her underlings annoy me. And besides, I am not going to be leashed like a dog like the other Pit." "I'm sure Palutena would work out a deal with you. You can keep your solo act going, but just help out against the Underworld Army when asked."

"Heh, I'm already doing fine without her help. Besides, unless I'm mistaken, doesn't she want me dead? Heck, I'm pretty sure she asked you to take me down as well." Dark Pit points out the problems in Riku's argument while folding his arms together and giving a smug grin. Riku sighs and explains in turn while closing his eyelids "I have no intention of killing you, that's just not necessary. But Medusa also has a point, you really don't have a plan to deal with Pit, do you? You're just wasting your own time."

"A fake has no chance of beating the original, so I've already secured victory on that alone." Dark Pit arrogantly replies, and the teenage Overlord tells him bluntly while giving him a piercing glare "And yet, who was it that emerged from the Mirror of Truth?" "Hmph…You're just wasting my time until the other Pit comes here, aren't you?" Dark Pit ignores the question by trying to determine what Riku's plan was here, since his words didn't seem to have a purpose in his eyes.

"No, Palutena doesn't know anything yet…I guess I was foolish to think that I could convince you to stop being a free agent." Riku laments his mistake while rubbing the back of his head, and Dark Pit smiles before commenting "At least you know you're a fool, credit where it's due there. But if you have nothing else to say, then I'm leaving." "The black angel prepared to turn around, followed by Riku asking "Wait, there's just one thing I want to ask. Do you plan to attack the humans or not?"

Dark Pit glances at Riku in an annoyed manner and says "Of course not. Why would I need to bother anyways, they're already destroying themselves just fine without my help." The teenage Overlord pauses for a moment, hesitantly admitting "…Yeah, I guess that's true." Which then leads to Dark Pit saying "I'm surprised you aren't raising an objection. Guess it's because you are a human, just the same as the rest of them."

"…" Riku was starting to feel a little peeved towards Dark Pit, and the way he slanted his eyebrows to glare at the black angel grabbed his attention and caused him to comment "Oh, did I strike a nerve? Face it, if you were any different from the other humans, you wouldn't be perpetuating the cycle of violence by getting involved in this war."

"Dark Pit, I'd suggest not talking about someone you know nothing about." Riku gave Dark Pit a cold warning, and the black angel doesn't get the message and decides to press his luck by saying in an unintentionally correct manner "You've probably gotten your own share of people hurt because you chose to fight where you weren't needed."

"One attack, Dark Pit, that's all I need." Riku was starting to lose his cool, his right fist clenched up, and the black angel CLEARLY did not get the point as he taunted him with a simple "You don't have the guts to-" It took a swift second afterwards for Riku to rush right at Dark Pit and swing his fist directly towards his gut. In another part of the ruins, Pit is busy fending off Underworld soldiers when the entire area is suddenly shaken by a powerful tremor.

The Underworld Army turns away from Pit, and the young angel is taken off-guard and thrown onto his rear before the tremor ends. While on the ground he uses his Compact Arm to take out the few soldiers in front of him, then rises to his feet and looks down from the ruined temple he was standing in the center of, noticing that the wide-open area on the other side of the area was crumbling apart, with a staggering Dark Pit flying away towards the floating platforms above the center of the room.

"Whoa, what happened over there?" Pit asked in a completely puzzled tone as he runs towards the edge of the temple. Riku then chimes in through Palutena's connection with a nonchalant sounding "Dark Pit's headed for the platforms above, now's your chance to take him down, Pit." "Riku, did you do that to him?" Pit asks, referring to his copy's weakened state.

"…I may have let myself get a little angry." Riku reluctantly admits, though he's back to his usual stoic behavior now that he had gotten Dark Pit out of his sights. Pit exclaims in disbelief "That's what happens when you get angry?! …Sheesh, remind me not to tick you off." The last sentence is spoken in a murmur, and afterwards Palutena finally chimes in with an awkward sounding "Weeell…In any case, Dark Pit's got nowhere left to run, so head to the fountain and I'll set up a grind rail for you to climb, Pit."

"I'll join you in a bit, but like I said, I'll leave him to you now." Riku says, and afterwards Pit runs for the center of the ruins, where a glowing grind rail has been called forth by Palutena. It winds up round and round, and Pit leaps up onto the rail and takes it up rather quickly to the top. Once there, he finds Dark Pit hunched over with one hand on his gut and the First Blade just barely grasped in his other hand.

"I found you, faker!" Pit exclaims while swinging his Compact Arm forward, and Dark Pit bemoans in a tired tone of voice "Oh…great…YOU." "There's nowhere left for you to run!" Pit exclaims as he aims his weapon at his dark counterpart, and Dark Pit grits his teeth and curses the fact that he was too weak to even fly out of the ruins. But before Pit can make the first move, a pink vase with a single heart on it drops beside Dark Pit, making his expression change to one of pleasant surprise.

"Well well…Looks like the gods are on my side today." Dark Pit wastes little time in taking the vase and drinking the pure liquid from it, causing his body to be covered in a holy light as he rises up and looks rejuvenated completely. Pit comments in a shocked tone of voice "What?! A Drink of the Gods?! Where did that come from?!" Palutena shares the angel's disbelief by saying "I have no idea! Pit, you're just going to have to take him out at his full strength now!"

Pit growled in anger at this turn of events, and Dark Pit threw away his First Blade and reached into his toga to pull out the Silver Bow, splitting the weapon into two blades and swinging them out ready for battle. Pit and Dark Pit locked their stares towards each other and exclaimed energetically "Let's do this!" Pit started the battle off by firing off a series of yellow orbs at Dark Pit, but the black angel swiftly swings his blades to cut them down while proclaiming "Bring it on, puppet!"

"What are you talking about?! I'm not a puppet!" Pit exclaims, heatedly running towards his dark counterpart and swinging the Compact Arm out in an arc to try and clobber Dark Pit, only for the black angel to activate his power of flight and take to the air, hovering out of reach above the platforms while folding his arms together and taunting Pit with "Palutena says you jump, you jump. She says you fight, you fight! Sounds like a pretty satisfying existence. For her, that is."

Pit flips around and fires off a charged shot at Dark Pit, but he swerves around it to the left to avoid it, then combines his Silver Bow together to fire off a guiding shot down at Pit. The young angel takes the shot to the face and is launched back, throwing him down to a lower platform directly on his back. Pit kicks back up to his feet rather quickly and waits for Dark Pit to fire off another attack, at which point he slides around the right of it and fully charges his Compact Arm, giving him a perfect chance to point it up and strike Dark Pit with a fully powered attack.

Dark Pit is covered by a bit of a smoke from the attack, and Pit takes one of the nearby jump pads so he can get directly in front of his hovering foe. One punch is thrown into Dark Pit's face from above, striking him square in the forehead and sending him crashing against the edge of the platform below his feet, creating some cracks in the ground. Pit then lands on the ground and swings his arm out while declaring "I have absolute faith in Lady Palutena!"

The black angel pulls himself up, brushing aside some dirt on his chin while giving his counterpart a subtle grin and saying "The Mirror of Truth doesn't lie. I'm a reflection of your true self. So maybe your faith in her isn't quite so absolute after all." As Dark Pit strikes a nerve in Pit, the two continue their argument and battle with Riku observing from a distance.

While listening in to Pit defending her, Palutena asks Riku "Hey, you gave Dark Pit the Drink of the Gods, didn't you?" The teenage Overlord doesn't hide the truth by responding with a nod of his head, and Palutena questions him bluntly with "Just what were you thinking?" Riku replies by saying "Pit has to win a fair fight against his clone to show Dark Pit that he isn't the fake. Beating him while he's weak isn't going to help anything."

"I think there's more to it than that, Riku. You know something, don't you?" Palutena was beginning to suspect something was up with Riku's actions, but the teenage Overlord assures her calmly "If one angel is pretty handy, then wouldn't it make sense to keep two around? Dark Pit isn't going to attack humans, and he's entirely focused on the Underworld Army. Once Pit defeats him, that gets rid of all our problems, wouldn't you agree?"

"…I still think it was ridiculous for you to give him the drink." Palutena says after taking Riku's idea into consideration, and the teenage Overlord humbly admits "Probably, but I wouldn't have had to do that if I didn't punch Dark Pit in the first place. I promise, I'm not trying to sabotage your efforts, Palutena." "I believe you Riku, but I have to question these things sometimes." Palutena admits, and Riku understands that well enough to not say anymore.

Back with the battle, Pit and Dark Pit were panting at each other, their bodies appearing to have taken equal amounts of damage. But the problem for Pit to overcome was that Dark Pit was able to keep flight, allowing him to dodge around Pit's shots and prevent him from performing anymore punches with the help of the jump pads. "It's over now." Dark Pit says as he raises his Silver Bow into the air and calls upon Pandora's powers for one final attack. A circle of purple, static energy surrounds Pit, and the young angel knew what was coming based on his experiences with Palutena.

Pit first fires off a charged shot at Dark Pit to deal some hefty damage to him while he was forced to stay in place, following up on that by making a run for the closest jump pad just as his dark counterpart fires off a rain of many arrows inside of the circle he summoned forth. Pit leaps into the air, but his wings are caught up by a few of the arrows and forces him to be dragged down to the prior platform, where his pinned body is bombarded by the rest of the assault.

Pit groans out in pain as he lies there at the center of the platform, and Dark Pit sees fit to land on the ground in front of him and aim his Silver Bow at the angel's head. "See? I told you I was the original. Goodbye, puppet." All he had to do was charge the bow for a few seconds, and Pit was done for. But the determined young angel grit his teeth, insulted for being called a puppet yet again, and with a swift thrust of his right arm he clocks Dark Pit straight in his vulnerable stomach with the full strength of his Compact Arm.

Dark Pit crumples over in pain, dropping to his knees as Pit crawls back far enough to get on his feet, and he weakly pumps his fist forward while saying "That's for kicking me in the stomach earlier!" Pit then swung his Compact Arm forward, looking to finish Dark Pit off now that he was vulnerable. But for all the anger he had towards his clone, Pit just couldn't bring himself to finish off someone who looked exactly like himself.

Lowering his arm causes Dark Pit to question this with "You're going to let me live?" Pit didn't say anything in response, and Dark Pit recovered enough to swing his right arm out and reactivate the power of flight while commenting "You're weak…You should be thankful that I was going easy on you. This isn't over…" Though Dark Pit tried to justify his defeat with that remark, the time he took to rise to his feet and rocket towards the sky suggested that he had gone all-out.

Pit was miffed that Dark Pit flew off with that sharp remark, but Palutena quickly chimed in by saying "Well, I guess that's all we can do about him for now. We should probably go back to focusing on Medusa's army." Riku lands beside Pit as Palutena summons forth a pillar of light around them both, and Pit just let out a troubled sigh as he's taken back to Skyworld to continue his mission of stopping Medusa…

_Next Time: It's Hamazing!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 7: The Seafloor Palace**

Pit has to spend a day resting in Skyworld after his battle with his dark counterpart. The hot springs Palutena set up for him took his mind entirely off of Dark Pit, and once he was ready to go again the goddess sent him and Riku off for another mission. A trip through the usual magic door sent the two heroes into a wide-open desert with tons of hills of sand rippling through the landscape.

Thankfully, flying through the air allows the arid temperature to not affect Pit's body, and he's able to cleanly focus on the Monoeyes that try to swarm after him. He blasted them down with his newest weapon, a couple of crimson shields hovering on both sides of his body. After taking down the first wave, Palutena states "Now that we're focusing on Medusa's forces, I'm sending you and Riku after Tanatos, the god of death."

"Tanatos?!" Pit exclaims in shock and fright, but then he finds himself at a loss of memory that forces him to embarrassingly ask "…Lady Palutena, who's Tanatos again?" Palutena explains in a dutiful manner "Back in the 80's, Tanatos took on the form of a snake on Medusa's head. He's quite the chameleon, you see, and that was his 'look' back then."

"Great fashion sense…" Pit sarcastically comments on, but then puts on a serious face as he points out "Well if he's the god of death, then he must be a pretty big deal for the Underworld Army." Palutena explains "Naturally. Medusa considers him her second-in-command alongside Pandora, and he's been given a key to the Underworld. He's also leading an invasion of the sea, but that's not that important really."

Some masculine cough is heard in the distance, and Pit comments "What was that?" "You're just hearing things Pit, pay attention." Palutena bluntly avoids the issue, and the young angel brings up another point instead "So wait, I'm going to fight in the sea? What, do you expect me to grow gills?"

"Of course. I hope you've been practicing your branchial respiration!" Palutena responded seriously to Pit's question, and the young angel even went along with it while bragging "Of course, I minored in branchial respiration!" The realization of what he was saying struck him hard as he widened his eyes and bluntly said "Wait, you're crazy!"

"Just hold your breath Pit…For about two hours." Palutena was continuing on with this plan despite Pit figuring everything out, and Pit exclaims "I can only fly for five minutes! YOU'RE. CRAZY!" He put a heavy emphasis on his outrage towards Palutena's plan, but the goddess didn't feel the need to say anymore, which worried Pit greatly.

Riku, listening in on the conversation, hand but one comment to make on the whole thing "…So when you say the 80's, you mean…?" Palutena explains nonchalantly "1980's, what else would I be talking about?" The teenage Overlord blinks a few times at this response, leading to an instance where he dryly comments "…You guys are really far behind in technology then."

"Humans are the ones who have fallen behind because of all their wars…But hey, that's nothing for you to worry about, Riku!" Palutena speaks seriously for just the first sentence, and then merrily tries to divert attention from the subject. As the two heroes make it over a large hill they find themselves in the presence a large glistening sea, to which Pit once again decides to ask "So hey, you were just kidding about the holding my breath thing, right?"

"Of course I was. Just watch and learn young padawan, and witness the power of the goddess of light!" As the two heroes float above the edge of the sea, all of a sudden the very sea begins to split apart in half, much to the awe and bored glares of Pit and Riku respectively. The walls of water cascade into the wet, sandy ground below, shaking the desert and air until the process is entirely finished.

"Whoa ho ho ho! You've really outdone yourself Lady Palutena!" Pit's voice was filled with honest praise towards Palutena, and the goddess enthusiastically proclaims "Next stop: The Seafloor Palace!" Pit is sent towards the split in the sea, and Riku follows close behind while commenting "You know Palutena, you could have just let me take care of this. It wouldn't have been a problem."

"I know that, but sometimes you just have to exercise your powers to avoid getting dull." Palutena comments in a humored tone of voice, and as Pit has fun running across the sea floor while shooting the Underworld Army he proclaims "You just continue to impress me Lady Palutena!" The goddess chuckles and nervously says "What can I say? I'm quite the overachiever…"

It was then that another voice cut in, saying in a jolly, masculine but elderly tone of voice "Ho, now! Just one second there, lassie!" Pit was confused by this sudden interjection, and Palutena chuckles again while saying "Oh, heh, heh…Lord Poseidon!" The man called Poseidon berates Palutena for her words by saying "Tsk tsk, Palutena. Lies don't become a lady."

"Hehe, can't a goddess have a little fun?" Palutena innocently comments in a mischievous tone of voice, and as everything is put together in his head Pit asks "So that sea-parting business was…?" "'Tis was my doing, silly boy." Poseidon bluntly answers.

"I could have told you that." Riku says, followed by Palutena explaining the whole situation with a humble tone of voice "To pull of an attack on the Seafloor Palace, I went to the sea god himself." "Even though, once again, you could have just asked me." Riku points out to the goddess.

"And just who is this impudent whelp?" Poseidon sounds annoyed by Riku's comments, and the teenage Overlord introduced himself as "My name is Riku, I'm the Elemental Overlord." Poseidon then proclaims "Oh! The Elemental Overlord! …So then, impudent Overlord, what makes you think you have the right to manipulate MY sea?" He clearly didn't hold respect for the Elemental Overlord's title as he inquired this matter.

"I do not mean to be arrogant, Poseidon, but considering the nature of my powers wouldn't we technically be equals?" Riku inquires, and Poseidon gets a jolly laugh out of this before he states "Far from it, the Elemental Overlord is considered to be of a higher rank than us gods. But that doesn't mean you can just defile my domain at your own whim. In fact, I have it in the right mind to close the sea for your insolence!"

Pit panics and immediately looks up at Riku while desperately proclaiming "Apologize! Apologize! Apologize! I don't want to be seafood!" Poseidon erupts into a maniacal but merry laugh before he states calmly "Relax, little angel, I have no intention of interrupting your progress. After all, who else is going to dispatch of the Underworld forces that have invaded my sea? It's not like I have my own angel to rely upon."

"U-Uhhh yeah, I knew you were joking around." Pit nervously says, lying through his teeth as sweat trickles down the sides of his face. Riku then says to Poseidon in an honest tone of voice "Sorry Poseidon, I wasn't thinking about that very clearly." The god seemed to take little offense as he mentioned "You're young, barely even a trout at that. You'll learn eventually. But since you're here, there's something I wish to ask of you."

"Go right ahead." Riku said. "You haven't dragged your own affairs to this planet, have you?" Poseidon asked, and the teenage Overlord shook his head in response. "That's good to know. I remember quite a long time ago how the original Overlord's enemies took their battles to the seas of this world and other ones as well. If such a battle were to occur again, I'd drown them myself!"

"I'd believe that." Palutena says with praise towards the sea god's might. "I promise you Poseidon, I haven't made any lasting enemies during my time as the Elemental Overlord. Your seas will be cleansed of Medusa's forces relatively soon, and you'll have nothing to worry about." Riku used a little more respect in his voice, and Poseidon took note of this and said in a joyous tone of voice "Hohoho, you're learning quickly, boy. There may be hope for you yet."

"Yeah, hehe…We'll handle the Underworld Army, no problem!" Pit proclaimed as he kicks off the ground and ends up gliding through the ruins of an ancient city between the sea walls. This shifted the subject to another matter as Pit inquired "So…this used to be a city, I guess?" Poseidon didn't engage in any subtlety as he admitted "It was. Before I sunk it."

"Sunk it? That's a bit…extreme." Palutena says, underselling the issue entirely. "Humans consist of equal parts hubris, envy, and deceit. Sometimes one has to put them in their place." "I kind of hate to speak up against you again Poseidon, but the last world I went to had a guy who was killing humans for understandable but still insane reasons. But you definitely seem to be more sound in the head, so why did you sink the city?"

"Why my boy, what other reason would I have to sink the city than because the humans tried to defile my domain? I was fair to them, sent maybe a few giant crab monsters to persuade them to change their ways, but would they listen? Good to honest humans are a rarer treasure than anything you'd find in any god/goddess' palace, I'd say." Poseidon explaining himself made Riku give a hesitant glare, even if he partially did agree with him knowing how often the humans fought on this world.

Palutena quickly had to defuse the matter before things got out of hand by mentioning "So Lord Poseidon, how much longer until they reach the Seafloor Palace?" Poseidon replies swiftly with "I'd give it another minute at this point. It's not hard to find." Pit admits jokingly "Yeah, you just have to know what parts of the sea to split."

"Hmm, if I had my own angels, I'd personally equip them with gills for underwater travel. Say Palutena, don't you have some angels to spare for an old friend?" Poseidon inquires, and Palutena nonchalantly replies "Sorry, I only have Pit. The other angels died in the line of duty." "Oh…I'm sorry to hear that. So then, how much will you be willing to take for Pit?" Poseidon's tone of voice changed so quickly that he clearly wasn't mourning the loss very much.

"I don't know, what are you offering?" Palutena inquires, and for once Pit wises up and assumes "Haha, Lady Palutena, I know you're joking around this time. You can't fool this ol' angel twice!" Poseidon's swift reply of "Half of my treasure" led to Palutena pondering the offer with a reflective murmur that made Pit begin to worry.

"Ummm…Lady Palutena, you're seriously not considering selling me, are you?" Palutena's chuckle following the young angel's worry inquiry leads to her saying "Don't worry Pit, I'd never sell you. You aren't an item to barter." "Oh thank goodness." Pit says with a swipe of the hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat born of his concerns.

By the time that conversation is done, the two heroes fly out of a final small split in the sea, ending up in a large wide open area with a single gorgeous palace on the ground in front of them. The palace was surrounded by four emerald slanted pillars that keep the palace attached to the bottom of the seafloor. The inside of the palace itself glistened with a prismatic effect, luring the two heroes towards it.

"Alright, here we are! Time to take the fight to Tanatos!" Palutena exclaims, and Poseidon says as his final message to the three "And I'll be closing the sea back up. Hopefully that will take care of any remaining Underworld stragglers." "Just give us a few more seconds." Palutena replies, and Pit exclaims in a panic as he is thrust right towards the entrance of the palace "Please! I didn't bring a life vest!"

Pit and Riku head through the front door of the Seafloor Palace, ending up in the central hub of the entire building that was filled with pristine waterfalls, a few platforms extending to higher floors of the palace, and a couple glistening windows. The water could be heard crashing back down outside, but not even a single drop makes it's way into the palace. "Alright, we're in Lady Palutena." "Well Pit, then it's hunting season. Good luck." Palutena gives the young angel her blessings.

"So where shall we st-" "Oh, goody-guests! Protecting an impregnable fortress can get awfully lonely." A rather high-pitched and possibly flamboyant voice interrupts Riku's comment, and for a moment the teenage Overlord visibly grimaces. Pit on the other hand was rather confused by the sudden interruption, though Palutena is the one who asked "Is that you Tanatos?"

"Actually, I go by Thanatos now. The extra H stands for HAMAZING." Tanatos…Oh I'm sorry, THantos, corrects Palutena on his name, while Pit scratches the back of his head and asks awkwardly "…Umm, have we met before?" Thanatos seemed slightly insulted by the angel's forgetfulness as he said "I know it's been awhile, but surely you haven't forgotten your old foe?"

"Sorry…There are just so many foes and only one of me." Pit apologies kindly to Thantos, but while the angel was polite Palutena was more blunt as she explained to the god of death "We have already defeated Medusa's other commanders. Just surrender peacefully, and Pit and Riku won't be forced to harm you." Thanatos had little concern towards the goddess' threat as he said in response "Hoo hoo hoo! Impatient as always, I see! But since you've come all this way…"

There was a momentary pause that made Pit suspect that Thanatos was planning to send Underworld soldiers at him, but the god of death had other plans in mind as he politely asked of his company "Wouldn't you like to stay and catch up for a bit? Oh, pretty please?" Instead of acknowledging that question, Palutena points out "So you aren't going to surrender the key."

"No need to get all huffy now. I will have you know that I much prefer honey to vinegar." Thanatos' calm response leads to Pit murmuring out a simple "Wait, what?" before the god of death further elaborates "And I prefer witty repartee to any condiment!" Riku dryly comments "Who would even want to eat condiments by themselves…?"

A frustrated Pit then groans and says "This is getting nowhere. Our goal here is to track down Medusa, right?" "Exactly. Thanatos' is Medusa's right hand man as I said before, and that's why he was given the only key to the Underworld." Palutena explains, and Thanatos' quick response doesn't help prove his innocence despite him saying "I have no such thing! None whatsoever! Honestly. HONESTLY."

Thanatos' behavior during this whole conversation makes Pit scratch the back of his head and ponder "How did HE get to be Medusa's second in command?" "Beats me, seniority perhaps?" Palutena's answer was uncertain, naturally, and Thanatos chimes in with "Oh come now, I'm not even a day over four thousand."

"So we'll go with Plan B then Lady Palutena?" Pit asks. "You have my permission. Plan '**B**eat 'em up' is authorized!" Palutena orders with the utmost enthusiasm. "I'm probably going to regret asking this, but was Plan A named 'Aquatic Assault'?" Riku inquired, and with an embarrassed look on his face Pit turned towards the teenage Overlord and said "N-Not at all…That'd just be silly!"

"Pit, you really got to work on your poker face." Palutena explains, while Riku just stoically blinks twice and doesn't comment anymore on the matter. Thanatos then says "Heeeeeelloooo, can I join in on this conversation?!" He REALLY wanted to be a part of this conversation, but Pit was more than annoyed with Thanatos' presence at this point and exclaimed "Shut it already!"

Thanatos responds with a rather bizarre but insulted remark of "Me? But you've been talking this whole game!" Riku tilted his head in confusion at this comment, but things would only get more puzzling for him as Palutena has to hesitantly explain to the god of death "Ummm, Thanatos…I don't think you got the memo. This isn't a game right now, we're in a fan fic." Thanatos let out a loud sounding "What?! You mean to tell me my witty mannerisms and talented voice have been replaced with written text?!"

"Hey, look on the bright side Thanatos, at least you'll actually get to have your appearance described in good detail. I mean Poseidon's done appearing in this story, and he didn't get to have a physical appearance at all." Pit explains, and Thanatos took interest in this possibility and…Why do I suddenly have this sense of foreboding dread? "Oh really? Fascinating, I will keep that in mind." Thanatos said in more relaxed tone of voice.

"Yeah, I remember when my appearance was described a few chapters ago. It was almost perfect." Palutena says in a proud tone of voice, while Pit is quick to point out "Well to be fair Lady Palutena, the ladies always seem to get the detailed descriptions. My description was pretty much ripped straight from the wiki…" As the young angel lamented this fact, Palutena said "That just means they know what they're doing."

"…I hope that doesn't mean anything bad for me in the long run." Pit comments as a shiver trickles through his backside. Riku then blankly glares at Pit, and once the young angel looks at him the teenage Overlord's head throbs a bit before he comments "…I have no idea what any of you were talking about just now. If we're done though, let's go back to finding Thanatos." As Riku leans one hand against the side of his head while trying to endure the pain, Pit nervously waves his hands out and says in an apologetic tone "S-Sorry about that, let's keep moving."

The two heroes traverse through the Seafloor Palace. Despite Thanatos' desire to converse and such, he stays relatively quiet throughout their travels. Winding pathways, grind rails, icy floors and multiple trips back to the center of the palace allow them to get further and further up the palace until they finally make it to the last floor via a jump pad.

"Huh, that was pretty easy. There's also not very many Underworld Army soldiers down here." Pit comments. "Well Medusa probably didn't expect us to make it under the sea." Palutena reasons, and the angel comments in turn "I can't complain really, but it just makes the palace seem so empty…"

"It's true, I have been so lonely these last few days…Losing Pandora was such a shame, she was really good at Parcheesi." Thanatos comments, and once more Pit raises an eyebrow in suspicion whole asking "Ok, is there something I'm not being told here? How did Pandora keep doing all this stuff without limbs?" "Oh simple, she used her minions to play the game, isn't it obvious?" Thanatos pointed out the obvious, which considering his nature, really said something about how bad Pit was at thinking this through.

As Pit chuckled and felt a bit down about himself, Thantos tried to cheer him up with "Keep on trooping, little trooper!" This is followed by Palutena saying "There's something I've been meaning to ask, Thanatos." "Yeeeeeeees?" The god of death's curiosity was greatly piqued, while Pit and Riku got onto a moving platform towards the final stretch of the palace.

"You are the god of death, right? And if the Underworld is the land of the dead, why don't you outrank Medusa?" Palutena brought up a rather good point, but Thanatos nonchalantly replied "I'm not really interested in climbing the corporate ladder. You wouldn't believe the amount of overtime you have to put in. Plus, that sort of strict hierarchy isn't the Underworld style." But despite what he said Palutena bluntly pointed out "You're avoiding my question."

As Pit and Riku take a teleporter followed by a lift to the last room leading up to Thanatos' room, Thanatos suddenly shifts into a state of ignorance by imitating static with a few raspberries from his tongue while mentioning "I'm sorry, can't hear you, it seems there's lots of interference!" Pit says in turn "I honestly can't tell if he's ignorant, or just plain weird…"

"I'd just ignore this for now, he's not going to tell us anything." Riku points out, gesturing towards the large door up ahead. Pit returns focus to what's up ahead, while Palutena pondered Thanatos' lack of an answer, considering it rather suspicious in light of Medusa's recent revival. With one final sprint towards the door, Pit and Riku end up inside of a large circular chamber filled with glistening windows, a throne at the other side that was mostly covered in shadow, and a couple statues on both sides of the throne. Thanatos drops down from the ceiling above the throne and…Oh god, I knew I should have listened to that dreadful sensation.

I'm seriously going to have to read this off…Ugh, I don't paid enough for this job. Thanatos, with his peerless green skin, approaches his domain from above, greeting the world surrounded by a ray of heavenly light. He was sculpted like the mightiest of Greek gods, with arms buffer than Atlas, pecs mightier than Poseidon, and legs greater than Hermes. His body glistened so brightly that it would blind even Palutena, and his face was so well-crafted that one could suspect that someone not of this world was responsible for his creation, especially when one looks at his beautiful, well-rounded chin and bright, human-like eyes.

…Pit, Riku and Palutena share a glare of disbelief at Thanatos, and after a few seconds of basking in the moment the god of death creates a puff of smoke around his body that transforms him into his real appearance, a portly genie with cracks around his stomach jewel, a mythical set of clothes, bright blue lips, an odd looking crown, some glowing jewels around his arms and head. "Well, that was fun! Seriously, it's always nice to exercise after waiting around exhausted me so much."

…"So…Ummm…Are we going to fight now?" Pit awkwardly breaks the silence amongst his companions with that question, and Thanatos folds his arms together and says "Well I mean, you DID make it to the boss room, guess I have no choice now. Boss Fight 1 is playing after all." "Thanatos, seriously, this isn't a game, it's a fan fic, there's no music in it." Palutena bluntly points out, much to the god of death's disappointment.

"Oh just crush my hopes and dreams why don't you?" Thanatos nonchalantly says, followed by Riku commenting "I really wish I knew what all of you were talking about…Whatever, it's time to lose, Thanatos." "Oh no no no, I can't fight like this, let me come up with another form real quick and then we can start." Thanatos says.

"Watch out Pit! Thanatos could transform into a variety of frightening forms! Don't be surprised if he becomes a spider, or a scorption, or a cockroach or a tick or a moth or lizard or leech or tapeworm or centipede or bat or snake or even…a cat!" Palutena gives her advice with perhaps too much nonchalance in her voice, and Thanatos replies "Oh heavens no, all those ideas sound too generic! Oh, I got it! And a one, and a two…And a ONE, TWO, THREEE!"

With a snap of his fingers and some puffs of pink smoke, Thanatos' body shrinks down and then pops back into existence in the form of…A giant urn with his same aesthetics. The urn was mobile, as it slowly moved towards the two heroes. Thanatos lets out a yawn and says "I think I'm going to catch a few Zzzs in here…By the way, your attacks are useless." Pit exclaims furiously "Oh come on! We're supposed to be fighting, not taking a nap!"

Pit decides to rush at the Thanatos urn, firing shots off from his Guardian Orbitars to try and damage the urn's outer shell, only for the god of death's words to hold merit as the attacks do nothing to make him even flinch. Riku then steps up to the plate, telling Pit to get out of the way as he holds his left hand out and make a sharp pillar of stone thrust out from the ground towards the urn. The pillar of stone promptly crumbles as it hits the urn, even though Riku made certain to use some of the strongest rock he could muster. "…Ok, Thanatos was telling the truth." Riku comments as he lowers his arm draws out his sword.

"I'm not a liar. Now then, it's my turn!" Thanatos enthusiastically tips himself over, opening the hole at the top of his urn to send out some red and white skulls at his two foes. The red skulls explode as they approach Pit, but don't have much impact to launch the angel back. The white ones just hit their opponents and break apart, dealing minor damage but being a nuisance because of that. Pit gets an idea to hit the skulls with the Orbitars, launching them back at Thanatos' urn and causing him to flinch.

Riku notices this as he swings away the other skulls that head his way with his sword, complimenting Pit with a simple "Nicely done." Thanatos bemoans his discovered weakness by saying "Hmmm, why did I make my urn vulnerable to my own skulls? Oh well, guess I'll just have to change forms! Presto chango!" Thanatos covers his urn in a few pink clouds, and then transforms into a portly bat with Thanatos' goofy face and skin color.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!" Thanatos says, and Pit fires off shots at the now mobile god of death while saying "That's not what a bat sounds like!" The god of death tries to correct himself, but ends up making an entirely different type of noise that has nothing to do with any animal "Woop woop woop woop woop!"

"That's not it either! This is getting really annoying really fast!" Pit exclaims, his temper getting the better of him to the point that he ends up recklessly firing a rapid barrage of shots from his Orbitars in vain, as Thanatos swoops around the air quickly to avoid them all. But Riku takes to the skies and flies straight at the god of death ready to cut him with his sword, but Thanatos displays some surprising competence by splitting himself apart into a swarm of bats before Riku's slash could connect.

The teenage Overlord looked visibly shocked for a moment before Thanatos surrounds Riku and uses a combination of his annoying shrieks and tiny bites on his skin to throw him off further. Though the combination of tactics was annoying to deal with, more-so on Pit's end since he couldn't deal with the bats without harming his ally, Riku quickly concentrated on his surroundings and summoned forth an aura of fire to burn all of the bats at the wings.

"Eek! Fire, hot hot hot hot!" Thanatos' pained cry still carried his usual tone of goofiness, and to avoid being burned alive the swarm of bats quickly flew off and reformed into the singular gigantic bat that Thanatos started out as. Once he was free of the swarm, Riku felt a little bit of itchiness across his skin, but figured that would subside very quickly. With a thrust of his arm at the ground, the teenage Overlord summons forth a gust of wind to launch Pit towards Thanatos.

The angel was surprised by this sudden maneuver, but recovered from it fast enough to take both of his Guardian Orbitars forward and use them to punch bat Thanatos square in the face. The bat, as light as it is, is launched back into the throne, creating lots of cracks from the sudden but strong impact. Thanatos comments weakly afterwards "I-I think it's time for yet another form!" As he raises one wing up and puts his thoughts into another transformation, pink clouds surround him, and he quickly becomes a large porcelain doll.

"A doll? I get the feeling he's not taking this seriously." Pit comments, while Palutena comments on the well-crafted design and ponders "I wonder if they sell these type of dolls in stores?" Riku, meanwhile, lands on the ground and throws a large fireball past Pit, hitting Thanatos' doll straight in the jewel on his gut. The doll cracks in half, summoning a smaller doll that hops towards Pit. "Inside of Thanatos…Is a mini-Thanatos?" The angel was puzzled, but seemed to understand what he needed to do for this form.

Riku and Pit combine their efforts to attack the jewel on his gut, making smaller and smaller Thanatos dolls until the last one only reaches up to Pit's kneecaps, at which point the young angel runs up to it and gives it a nice hard kick, knocking it into the bouncing shells of the larger dolls to make them all tumble like dominoes. Thanatos then performs another transformation without saying anything else, turning back to his normal self.

Thanatos then shrugs and says "Oh well, guess that's it for my bag of tricks. It has been fun, Pit!" Pit naturally let out a puzzled "Huh? What are you talking ab-" Thanatos then starts to bloat, his body twirling around dramatically before he explodes into a smaller size, and after a very hammy proclamation of "Fareweeeeeeell!" he spins around and crunches into a thinner shape into he vanishes completely with a twinkle of light.

A violet, see-through gem falls to the ground following Thanatos' defeat, and Pit runs over to pick it up. "That's our key to the Underworld, Pit." Palutena explains, and while flipping the gem in his hands and examining it over the young angel asks "So I'm just supposed to…hold it?" "Pretty much, but we need to get you geared up for the final battle first." Palutena delightfully explains, summoning forth a pillar of light to call both Riku and Pit back to Skyworld.

_Next Time: Suddenly, Pirates!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 8: The Space Pirate Ship**

Though Pit was very, very eager to go off and face Medusa once and for all in the Underworld, Palutena and Riku both knew that there was still one predicament they'd have to deal with before they could take the fight to the goddess of darkness. Palutena's worried and embarrassed mumbles went unheard by Pit as the goddess prepared him and Riku for another mission. Pit kicks right through the door with the two beam-like claws in his hands, enthusiastically proclaiming "Onward to the battle of battles!"

As he's given flight by Palutena, the angel looks around his surroundings and saw a glistening, rising sun past a multiple of small floating islands filled with reflective, towering crystals, which is not something he expected to see in the Underworld, which is where he thought he was going. "Ummm, Lady Palutena, what are we doing here?" Pit inquires as Riku flies up beside him.

Underworld soldiers start to appear at this point, but is there really any point to bringing them up anymore knowing how their going to be dealt with? Anyways, as the two heroes fend the soldiers off, Palutena embarrassingly chuckles and says "Remember the Three Sacred Treasures?" Pit shows his memory is sound by saying "Of course. The Wings of Pegasus, The Mirror Shield, Arrow of Light."

Palutena merrily congratulates Pit with a simple "Right", followed by explaining "I hid them in case of an emergency. You know, so they wouldn't get stolen." "Wow, you're always thinking ahead. You're so smart!" While Pit's words were filled with the utmost praise, Palutena chuckled again and admitted "Well Pit, there's more to the story than that…You see, there's these space pirates…"

Pit's attention was lost rather quickly at that point, and he blinked twice before murmuring out "Wait, what?" Palutena thought that her answer was reasonable despite everything to the contrary, and then went out to gently explain "Well yeah, they are pirates…in space. They travel the Galactic Sea, robbing the heavens of constellations."

Now the young angel felt different about the space pirates, letting out an awed "That's so cool! …I mean, completely evil, but cooooool!" As he ran atop a giant, rotating, levitating crystal for a few seconds, he began to inquire "But wait, what does this have to do with the Three Sacred Treasures?" Palutena quickly explains "Well you see, I stuffed the Three Sacred Treasures inside one of the constellations."

"…Hooo boy. So the pirates have stolen the treasures along with the stars?" Pit was naturally concerned about this whole affair, followed by Palutena worsening the matter by saying "And Medusa has caught wind of this, and sent the Underworld army to attack their ship. That brings us to today's mission. Raid the pirate ship and retrieve the Three Sacred Treasures!"

As Pit is being lifted towards the thin clouds near the atmosphere of the planet, he dutifully proclaims "I'm on it! …And I'm going really fast!" The young angel goes twice as fast as he did before, forcing Riku to increase his speed while simultaneously activating his barrier of wind to allow himself to breathe. He didn't have to worry about Pit, since Palutena's blessing allowed him to breathe in space.

Speaking of the goddess, she justifies the increase in speed by saying "We're already really late, so brace yourself for just a little longer!" After a few seconds of pushing through all of the '-pheres' of the planet, Pit ends up being greeted by a vast and vibrant sky of stars, which bathes the area in a blue and slightly violet smog. As Pit is lowered and made to glide through the area, he is able to look down, seeing a sea of light-blue smoke that had various rising puffs along with a few icy meteors floating about.

"Oh wow! This is so beautiful!" Pit's awed tone could not be measured, and there was a moment where he seemed ready to squeal as he looked at the environment for a prolonged period of time. "Welcome to space Pit. This is where I have spent most of my life." Riku comments, and the young angel glances at him and says "I'd love to live in space! It's so vibrant and vast!"

"While I appreciate the enthusiasm Pit, I'll have to burst your bubble by reminding you-" Palutena is interrupted by Pit rubbing the back of his head and disappointingly saying "I know, I know, five minutes of flight. Maybe someday…" With hopes in his heart, Pit focused back on Riku for a moment and noticed the barrier around his body, commenting "So hey, why do you surround yourself with air?"

"It's a precaution to prevent myself from suffering air decompression." Riku's use of terms cause Pit to tilt his head and say "Air what now?" Palutena explains in a colorful manner "Well Pit, imagine that Riku was a balloon." "Ooo, I love balloons!" Pit exclaims in delight.

"When you send a balloon into space, there's no oxygen. So, pop goes the balloon!" Palutena's short-winded explanation doesn't strike Pit for quite a few seconds until he thinks back to Lady Palutena using Riku as a point of comparison, at which point the young angel has a disgusted look on his face as he mutters out "Ugh…Glad I don't have to worry about that while you're around."

"It's not really a pleasant thought, is it?" Palutena sounded somewhat apologetic as she mentions this, and Riku, sounding slightly disgusted himself, berated Palutena by saying "Yes, I honestly wish you didn't bring that up." Palutena apologizes for her mistake, followed by Pit moving onto another subject as he glides through the Galactic Sea "So hey…The Three Sacred Treasures should be pretty old by now, right? Will they still work?"

"They've grown more brittle with age, but they'll likely last a few more battles." Palutena explains, followed by Pit murmuring "You aren't exactly inspiring confidence." "Oh Pit, you probably don't even need them anymore. Don't be such a chicken." A quick but accurate chicken noise comes out of Palutena's mouth at the end of her sentence, and in an attempt to dissuade these thoughts from his goddess he exclaims with bravado "I'm not chicken! I could take Medusa with one arm tied behind my back!"

"Look at all that swagger! You've toughened up nicely Pit! Remember when you would say 'I'm finished', all the time?" With a very rough impersonation of Pit's voice, Palutena showed how proud she was of Pit's proclamation. But Pit nervously chuckles and admits "I…I still say that…a lot…" After this little conversation, the two heroes end up inside of a tunnel of aquamarine smog that had a radiant aura to it, and it was here that they didn't have to deal with any enemies.

Once they thrust through the tunnel, they ended up in another part of the Galactic Sea. The blue smog was flattened below them, while the very constellations themselves were strung throughout the starry sky. The constellations were connected by celestial purple strands, with the stars humans would normally see in the sky being represented by golden spheres surrounded by a wavy, neon aura.

"Woooooow!" Pit's awe surpassed even the feeling that he experienced as he first entered the Galactic Sea, and Riku actually felt a bit taken aback looking at the environment. "This…This is really beautiful. I wish the constellations on my Earth looked like this." Pit commented "They don't?" and Riku replies swiftly with a nod of the head.

"That's interesting. Why is that?" Pit was hoping to look for either Palutena or Riku to answer, and the goddess was the one who ended up replying by saying "Not every Earth is the same Pit. Considering how big the universe is, it'd make sense for Riku's Earth to have a different type of constellations than our Earth. Judging from his reactions, the constellations are probably not this close to his planet."

"I didn't think my reactions showed off that much information…" Riku humbly admitted, and Palutena replied in turn "Eh, you just have to look deep enough to figure this stuff out sometimes. It's why Pit can't hide anything from me." Pit lets out an embarrassed chuckle and says "Lady Palutena, I'm not THAT much of an open book."

"Lets see here, right now you're thinking about where the Space Pirate ship is, whether or not we'll be able to stop Medusa, and just what you're going to be having as your celebratory dinner." Palutena gives a very serious deduction regarding what Pit's thinking, and the young angel was left with his mouth fully agape for quite a few seconds before he replied in a tone of surprise "…How does she do that?"

"Truth be told Lady Palutena, I was hoping to have a nice clean dinner after the mess you made with the living vegetables las-" "Pit, I told you we don't talk about that anymore." Palutena's firm and rather bitter response put a blush on Pit's face and made him silent in an instant, only for him to open his mouth a few seconds later while stuttering out "B-But speaking of all that…Where IS the Space Pirate ship? I thought we'd see it by now."

"It's not easy to detect since it doesn't give off an aura of evil like the Underworld Army. Hmmm, just be on your guard for now." Palutena advises. Riku the glances down and notices a large shadow flying straight up from the bottom of the galactic sea, warning the distracted Pit while pulling back "Found it!" The young angel turns around just in time for the Space Pirate's ship to rise up from the sea, it's large blue metal hull flying straight at the much smaller Pit so quickly that Palutena didn't have enough time to pull him away as he's struck by it.

The heavy impact thankfully doesn't kill Pit, but instead sends him plummeting straight into the Galactic Sea while letting out a drowned out cry of surprise. Riku groans to himself while drawing his sword out, and Palutena says "I'll get him moving quickly, just stay above the sea and pursue the ship for now!" The teenage Overlord glances down and sees the ship crash against the surface of the sea, the back pink energy sails being deployed to help it move forward while the hull grinds up the sea and creates streams of yellow energy beside itself.

Riku kicks into high speed and flies straight at the Space Pirate ship, with the Underworld Army going in for heavy pursuit as well. Meanwhile, Pit recovers from the blow to his face and shakes it off rather quickly, though his head throbs for a few seconds before Palutena takes control of his wings and sends him flying through the sea as the ship and Riku can be seen above the surface. "Lady Palutena, how quickly can you get me back to the surface?!" Pit urgently asks while swinging his Beam Claws out.

"The Galactic Sea's resistance is high, it'll take a little time. Avoid cannon fire from the ship in the meantime." Palutena's explanation leads to Pit questioning the cannon fire part for a brief moment before the Galactic Sea both above and below becomes lighted up with a bombardment of powerful lasers from the sides of the ship. Pit swerves around while letting out panicked cries, but thanks to Palutena he is able to keep up with the ship with relative ease.

Above the surface, Riku swings his sword around to cut down or deflect the lasers being thrown is way instead of worrying about dodging them. As he does this he notices a few Komaytoes flying around the Space Pirate ship, which naturally brings back some memories that for a moment, makes him consider smiling nostalgically, only for him to shake his head and choose against it. Takashi sighs in Riku's mind in response to that decision.

Down below, Pit comments "So if the Underworld Army is still here, then the Three Sacred Treasures must be safe, right?" "That appears to be the case." Palutena replies in a realizing tone of voice, and the young angel then asks in a puzzled tone of voice "So…We're going to defend the ship?"

"No Pit, we still have to claim the Three Sacred Treasures ourselves. So it's best just to take the whole ship down, even if it means harming some of the constellations, unfortunately." Palutena gives a dutiful answer, and Pit nods his head and says "Right. But we need to find an entrance inside first." "Don't worry about that, I got a plan for that, just focus on catching up." The young angel understandably felt dread welling up inside of him when he heard that Lady Palutena 'had a plan'.

Pit is pushed towards the surface of the sea, popping up alongside the Space Pirate ship as it continues to fire away at both the Underworld Army and Riku, though noticeably a lot of Underworld soldiers are being carried towards the ship in the mouths of the whale-like Belunkas. "Riku, how are you holding up over there?" Pit asks with Palutena's telepathic help as he glances over at him. The teenage Overlord replies calmly with "I'm holding up ok, just find us an entrance and I'll follow in a moment."

"Well Lady Palutena, if you have a plan, now would be the time to implement it!" Pit exclaims as he weaves through all of the lasers being shot at him, letting out a nervous gulp as he suspects that pain would soon follow. Palutena giggles and replies with a simple "Alright, if you're ready to go." With that, Pit isn't allowed to make any objections as he's pulled straight above the Space Pirate ship, Riku keeping a bead on his location until he's thrust straight down into the ship itself.

Pit's body is used as a battering ram to break open a hole through the ship itself, placing him inside at the cost of a little dizziness once he crashes against the ground with the power of flight deactivated. Riku flies towards the hole made in the ship and joins up with the young angel moments later, finding his body emitting a little bit of smoke as he slowly pushes himself off of the ground.

"Not that I'm complaining, but could you be a little gentler next time?" Pit asks with a pained groan in his voice. Palutena felt legitimately bad for what she did as she simultaneously apologizes and asks "Sorry about that! Are you OK?" "A little pain in my joints, but otherwise I'm fine." Pit says as he stretches his arms out to get rid of the kinks in his joints.

"I'm surprised. You get hit by a ship and then punch right through it, and you're no worse for the wear." Riku comments out of praise for Pit's durability, and the young angel laughs it off with a remark of "Yeah, I'm a lucky guy…" The matter of Pit's ability to survive is dropped as him and Riku start to got through the ship, which while it had a technological beauty to it, was filled with so much shiny blue metal that there really wasn't much to describe.

Even so, Pit once again went into a state of awe as he went through the sliding door and entered the next room. An alarm starts to go off, leading to the Space Pirates making their first appearance before the two heroes. They were armored creatures as tall as Riku, all of them wielding energy weapons grafted to their arms and having rather octopus-like faces on their broad bodies.

Pit immediately changes to an expression of shock and runs to the right to dodge the laser blasts coming from the Space Pirates' weapons, followed by him unleashing a barrage of his own laser beams from his Beam Claws. Laser blasts fly back and forth across the confines of the ship, everyone missing their intended targets with surprising ease, while Riku stood far away and just lifted his hand up to deal with any stray shots.

"I'm surprised the ones responsible for stealing constellations are such incompetent shots." Riku comments to Palutena, and the goddess in turn says "I'm more surprised Pit isn't hitting anything. This is seriously embarrassing. PIT, GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT AND START HITTING THE ENEMIES!" Palutena exclaims past the blaster fire to grab Pit's attention, maybe putting a little too much volume into her efforts as Riku's ears feel a twinge of pain afterwards.

"Sorry, sorry, I just didn't expect this many enemies!" Pit exclaims as he hides behind a nearby wall and pretends to reload his ammo. Pit then takes things a little more seriously and waits for a charge shot to go on his Beam Claws, where he then runs forward, performing a flip underneath a laser blast and firing off a swift shot that creates two beams big enough to cut through most of the Space Pirates, who disappear much like the Underworld Army would.

Once the room was cleared of enemies, Riku caught up with Pit and patted him on the left shoulder for a job well-done, only he let out a brief groan of pain to show that he hadn't fully recovered from the impact into the ship. The teenage Overlord apologized for the mistake, but the young angel naturally took no offense. The two heroes then moved on through the ship, facing the heavy resistance of the Space Pirates along with the incursion of the Underworld Army.

It all seemed too easy to deal with the ship, and Pit commented on this as they entered a dark purple room with a shiny energy generator in the middle "This really just feels like padding at this point. Did we really need to deal with Space Pirates?" Palutena snaps at Pit and says "Well excuse me for not wanting the Three Sacred Treasures to fall into the hands of evil!" Pit is taken aback by this blunt response and says "I-I'm not faulting you for this mission Lady Palutena, please take it easy…"

"Well then don't complain about filler and keep going, we'll be through this eventually!" Palutena says, using her strictest berating voice to make Pit more determined to focus on ahead. Riku folds his arms together and comments "Probably wasn't the best idea to comment on that, Pit." The young angel agrees with that, and decides to instead ask about something else, specifically the large glowing sphere in the room.

"So what is this thing Lady Palutena?" Pit asks, and the goddess calms down and explains merrily "That's where energy from the Galactic Sea is converted into propulsive power. As long as the ship remains in the Galactic Sea, it can run indefinitely." "Soo…Should I destroy the shiny thing?" Pit asks in a puzzled manner while pointing one of his Beam Claws at the generator.

"You'd better not. The explosion would be enormous." Palutena explains, followed by Riku mentioning "Well, I could protect us from the explosion." Palutena then points out to the teenage Overlord "And then the blast takes out the Three Sacred Treasures! Just don't touch the shiny object!" Her berating tone showed a great deal of impatience.

"…You know, I think I'll just stop bringing stuff up for now." Pit comments in a frightened tone of voice, and he continues moving on through the ship alongside Riku until they eventually make it to a room with a dark red hue in the air and a bunch of compressed versions of the constellations stars. Some of the stars glow still, but don't give off any heat signature. "Oh, I see. This must be a storage vault for the stolen constellations." Palutena comments in a tone of real intrigue.

"They've all been compressed for easy transport." After Palutena finishes explaining her observation, Pit looks around at the spheres and asks "So what about the Three Sacred Treasures?" Disappointingly, Palutena explains "Unfortunately, they don't seem to be here. I bet the pirate captain has them. I wonder if he's wearing them."

"Then it's more than just an emergency!" Pit's eyes widen in panic, but Palutena takes the whole ordeal in stride and says "It's…a fashion emergency." Though while the subject of the Three Sacred Treasures was on the table, Riku decided to ask as he and Pit exited the vault "So wait, anyone can use the Three Sacred Treasures?"

"So long as they fit, yeah. They weren't my creation, so it's not like I could just bless them with sacred power to stop the Underworld Army from using them." Palutena explains, and Riku is able to accept that as an explanation. The two heroes then keep traversing the ship before Palutena comments just before they open a door "I've created a grind rail for you to continue on with." "Thanks Lady Palutena!" Pit leaps onto the rail and is sent grinding along the outside of the ship, with Riku taking flight beside him.

"So where are we going to?" Pit inquired, and Palutena as always explained "We're going to the control room. I think that's where we'll find the Three Sacred Treasures." Pumping his fist forward, Pit confidently exclaims "Good! I want my stuff back!" But his enthusiasm quickly drops as at the end of the grind rail he ends up landing right in the middle of a conflict between the Underworld Army and the Space Pirates…Both of them being very incompetent at dealing with one another.

They didn't care at all about Pit or Riku's presences, so the two heroes were able to slip on by to the next room with little difficulty. After that all they had to do was keep going to a single lift, while the young angel commented "…You know, I really have to wonder why I worry about the Underworld Army sometimes." "The Space Pirates aren't very competent either. Speaking of which, the captain is just up ahead."

As the lift rises up towards the hole in the ceiling, Pit swings his arms out to slash the air while mentioning "I am SO swabbing the deck with that jerk!" Riku has to tell him straight up "Don't get overconfident Pit, that's when Medusa will be able to stop you." To get him to admit with a turn of his head over his shoulders "I know, I know. Don't worry about that."

At the very top of the ship's deck, the two heroes find the Space Pirate's commander standing at the south end. He had a silly hat on his head and a rather furious attitude once he saw Pit and Riku's presence, but there really isn't much else to say about him before the ship starts to shake and a series of gigantic glowing crimson tentacles rise up from the sides of the deck, one of them lashing out and wrapping around the pirate commander like he was a piece of sushi.

The tentacle pulls towards the main body of the creature it belongs to, a titantic kraken with two spotted yellow and black eyes and a rather ancient looking appearance. It's tube-shaped mouth was filled with hundreds of tiny teeth that quickly make work of the Space Pirate commander as he's flung from the tentacle. Once the Kraken rises up, it appears to have a series of sections on it's body meant to imitate celestial bodies, and Pit especially gets a better look at this strange creature as it leans forward to get a good look at it's next prey.

Still feeling hungry, the Kraken slams two of it's tentacles against the deck and lets out a roar that spews water across the deck, some of it finding itself on Pit and Riku's bodies. The teenage Overlord closes his eyelids and barely flinches from the roar, while Pit swings his right arm out and has a surprised expression on his face. "A space Kraken?! Well, that came out of nowhere!" Palutena exclaims in shock.

"What is it even doing here?!" Pit asks while trying to get rid of his panic, with the kraken sinking into the galactic sea and bringing up it's four tentacles around the deck to stay safe for the time being. "The Galactic Sea is filled with many terrible monsters, this just happens to be one of them." "So he's not affiliated with the Underworld Army?" Pit then inquires.

"Who knows? Either way, he probably ate the Three Sacred Treasures with the Space Pirate captain, so take him down!" Palutena gives Pit a reason to focus all of his strength on the Kraken, and the young angel starts to rapid-fire with both claws on the tentacle in front of him while proclaiming "I'm on it!" As Riku draws his sword and goes for a tentacle behind him, Palutena takes intrigue in the situation and mentions to the two heroes "Actually, if you're facing a Kraken, would you mind cutting up the tentacles for me? I heard they make a great delicacy."

"Lady Palutena, this is not the time to be thinking about food!" Pit exclaims in disbelief, and Palutena doesn't listen while mentioning "Grilled kraken with onions, a few chives, maybe some cheddar for garnish…Ooo, I'd be able to make use of my chowder pot too." Out of a combination of Palutena's alluring description of food alongside his own hunger, Pit murmurs out "Please stop…"

"Yeah! That's what I'll do! You can have all that food once you achieve victory, Pit! Doesn't that sound good?" Palutena's secret plan goes into full effect moments later, as the young angel could not resist his primal hunger and blurts out "Oh man, that just sounds too good!" He then flings himself at the nearest Kraken tentacle, rapidly throwing his claws out to slice at the thing, defeating it in a matter of seconds with a nearly untraceable flurry of cuts.

He then immediately runs around and defeats the other three tentacles while letting out a prolonged, victorious cry, and Riku is left with a blank look in his eyes as he sees Pit manage this task with the weakest melee claws imaginable. But by the time he's done taking out the tentacles, Pit is exhausted and begins to pant, his hands clasped against his knees as Palutena unfortunately comments "Oh right…You were using the Beam Claws. Sorry Pit, those aren't very good for cutting stuff up, you didn't get any meat from the Kraken."

"Oh…Oh…" Pit's head hangs in disappointment, and things only got worse as the main body of the Kraken rises high up from behind the young angel with it's mouth looking to unleash a torrent of hot water to boil Pit into a more tasty state. Before the Kraken can attack, however, Riku flies down in front of it and pulls his right fist back, replicating the metal that composes the ship around his hand before he punches the creature's exposed gut with minimal force.

The Kraken then feels some indigestion welling up inside of him, making him stop his attack as his eyes twitch and his body bulges around slightly. After a few seconds, Riku has to focus on the creature's mouth as he sprays out bits of stomach acid and water, swaying his hands out to make sure the liquids don't touch him or Pit until the Kraken spits out a rectangular container sealed with a blessed lock. Riku grabs onto it and then performs a backflip to end up in front of Pit as he stands back upright.

Moving his hand back to give Pit the box, the young angel comments "Hey, isn't that-?" "The Three Sacred Treasures! What a lucky break for us! Palutena explains, followed by Pit taking the box and shaking it around to see how well it's held up. As he does so, the Kraken falls backwards, slamming against the Space Pirate ship before it slinks down the side and descends back into the Galactic Sea, unconscious.

With it's last moments here, it managed to make the Space Pirate ship start to collapse into the Galactic Sea as well, with the back of the ship slanting first and the rest soon following. Pit and Riku held their footing on the deck, with Pit commenting after examining the Three Sacred Treasures box in good detail "Sorry I couldn't get some Kraken meat for you Lady Palutena."

"Oh, that's alright Pit, I'll make something else for you later. But for now, it's really time for the final battle!" As Palutena summons forth a pillar of light, Riku puts his sword away and comments "You know, I kind of wanted to try Kraken out…" This particular remark came entirely out of left field for Pit, who let out a puzzled "What was that?" before he's taken back to Skyworld alongside Riku…

_Next Time: The Final Battle Already? Guess Part 5's coming pretty soon…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 9a. Medusa's Final Battle** **(Part 1)**

The Three Sacred Treasures had been gathered, Medusa's Commanders had been slain, and the Underworld Key had been secured from Thanatos. Everything was ready for Pit and Riku to take the fight straight to Medusa herself. Palutena helped to secure the Three Sacred Treasures on Pit's body back in Skyworld, and once that was done him and Riku were able to head out the magical door to go straight for Medusa's home base.

Pit was now adorned with golden armored across his body, from winged grieves to a warrior's helmet. In his left hand was a golden bow with a series of glowing feathers attacking as the string, and in his other hand was a reflective mirror shield. The red sky was thick with storm clouds, and a couple bolts of lightning strung between the clouds as Pit and Riku dived straight towards the ground. Riku complimented Pit with "You're looking confident today."

"I guess you're ready for the final battle, Pit?" Palutena asks in turn, and Pit pumps his shielded arm forward and exclaims "It's now or never!" As swarms of Underworld Army soldiers rise up through the clouds, Pit rapid-fires arrows of gold from his bow, all of them piercing through the soldiers like they were nothing. The young angel then looks back at his glowing wings and comments "Lady Palutena, isn't the Pegasus Wings and the Power of Flight together kind of overkill?"

"The Pegasus Wings are worn down from old age, so I kept them here for now. Who knows if you might need them later." Palutena notes, as Pit and Riku continue to fire off their projectiles at the undying swarms of monsters coming their way. "The Underworld Army is going all-out here!" Pit exclaims in a somewhat worried tone of voice, and the goddess of light mentions "Medusa isn't going to pull any punches on you Pit. You and Riku need to be careful."

"We'll be fine Palutena. If Pit stopped her before, she's not going to win now." Riku says to reassure her, but Palutena felt the need to say anyways "You can never be too sure, especially against the Queen of the Underworld. Anyways, the ravine leading to the Underworld is coming up shortly, so brace yourselves!" Sure enough, Pit and Riku finally make it through the clouds, plummeting towards a single dark ravine out in the middle of nowhere.

Inside this ravine, Palutena quietly advises "Careful, you'll be entering Shootfly territory Pit. One shot from your bow and they'll wake up." Pit turns around and glances at the caverns on both sides of the ravine, finding a series of human-sized blue bats hanging upside from the ceilings. They were dozing off for now, but with Palutena's advice and a heavy amount of cautious breaths Pit was able to make it through their territory.

"Whew, now back to shooting things up!" Pit lets out a sigh of relief and then turns forward as the ravine starts to become a tunnel with dark violet crystals, at which point the young angel reaches into his toga and pulls out the crystal, wondering if it would actually work before he puts it away from safe-keeping. Riku then draws back a bit while commenting "Hold up, something's coming up ahead."

Pit glances forward and sees a series of devilish skulls surrounding by an equally menacing aura. Upon noticing Pit they open their mouths and let out a shriek as a strange old time melody begins to play in the area. "Figures Medusa would send out her Ornes at this point. Remember Pit-" "One touch will finish me. I remember Lady Palutena." Pit interrupts his goddess' sentence with confidence and then pulls back on the bow in his hand, firing off a large golden arrow at the swarm of Ornes.

The Ornes are burned straight through by the arrow, their bodies vanishing in a spectacle of bright lights as Pit swings his bow and says "And that's the end of that!" Palutena mentions with hopeful delight "So the Three Sacred Treasures still work, that's great to hear." The tunnel then flashes with a few rings of white light, and the solid walls that the crystals were held inside of vanish to leave a black void in the area.

Pit then feels something in his toga and pulls out Thanatos' gem, which was now shining brightly as a white rift opened up at the end of this vortex of crystals. The rift had two dark rings inside of it that made it look like an eye peering towards the two heroes, but as Pit's heart thumped against his chest he and Riku went through the "pupil" of this rift. The young angel exclaimed out a surprised "Whoooaaa!" as he feels himself being pulled into another dimension.

While the transition to the Underworld was occurring, Riku sensed another presence approaching from behind and glanced back to see a particular flicker of purple light flying towards them. But knowing what it was, Riku didn't say anything to Palutena. The push through the gate of the Underworld ends with relative ease, and the two heroes were finally at Medusa's home realm. As expected, the realm felt vacant of all life upon entering.

The ground was red and brown, dried up and devoid of any vibrant plant life. The few trees that were here are rotten and black, and though the sky had some stars they weren't as prominent as the hellish sun-like body in the distance that bathed most of the atmosphere in crimson. Naturally, the Underworld Army returned in full force, and Pit focused back on the skies in front of him while firing off more golden arrows from his bow.

"Now we're in the Underworld Army's home world. They may be SLIGHTLY more powerful than before." Palutena sounded very unconcerned as she mentioned this bit of information to Riku and Pit, and the young angel nods his head and says "Home or away, I always play to win!" "But in your past adventures, the Underworld was where you died the most, right?" Palutena mentions, causing Riku's attention to perk.

"Oh, absolutely. The difficulty level was just brutal. I'll brace for the worst!" Pit starts off feeling a bit embarrassed, but then goes into full-blown confidence a few seconds later. Riku then asks "Wait a minute, you've died before?" Pit glances over at him while firing off more arrows, mentioning in a nonchalant tone of voice "Yeah, what of it?"

"Pit, Riku's just puzzled because death is probably a one-time thing for him and other worlds." Palutena mentions, and Pit says in a surprised tone of voice "Really? Huh…" Riku then goes on to explain "Well that's not entirely true. I can bring one person back to life, but it really tired me out. And I know there are means to revive people on the other worlds I've been to…But you seem to do things differently, Palutena."

"Correct. I can only bring back people who've been blessed by my powers, meaning Pit and the Centurions. Thankfully, I haven't had to do that to for Pit so far." Palutena mentions, followed by Pit rubbing the back of his head and saying "Thank goodness for that." "It's pretty interesting learning how different worlds operate. Speaking of learning though, there's something I've been trying to avoid asking until now…"

"Hmm, what is it Riku?" Pit was curious to know what the teenage Overlord had to say, and Riku mentions rather quickly "Palutena, even if you blessed the Three Sacred Treasures, would Dark Pit still be able to use them, since he's fundamentally Pit save for his aggressive nature?" This garnered a provocative murmur of thought from the goddess of light, and while she was trying to think that through Pit mentioned "Come to think about it, Pittoo said he was going to fight Medusa's forces, right? Guess he'll miss out on that now."

"To answer your question Riku, I'd assume he would be able to use the Three Sacred Treasures…If I ever put them in his possession. There's no way that's happening now." Palutena was blunt in her reasoning, but that was only fair after the way Dark Pit slighted her. Riku nodded his hand out of an understanding for the explanation, and then looks forward as Pit seems to be having a tough time shooting through these black shielded enemies with his arrows.

"Pit, haven't you forgotten that the backs of Boogities resist everything, even the Arrows of Light?" Palutena said in a rather humored tone of voice as she sees the young angel pull back and forth on the invisible string of his bow rather rapidly. "I haven't, but they'll have to let their guard down sometime!" Pit responds with, and after a few seconds of futile shots a streak of purple pierces right through all three Boogities to destroy them all instantly.

Pit's thrown off-guard, naturally, only for Dark Pit to make his presence known in front of him a few seconds later. The young angel discarded his surprise and said "Oh hey Pittoo, we were just talking about you!" Dark Pit naturally glanced back at him with a somewhat peeved looking on his face as he asked "What did you just call me?"

"…Say wait a minute, what are you doing here?" Pit asked after realizing how things didn't quite add up. Dark Pit arrogantly boasted "The same thing you're doing. Pummeling Underworld fools. I'm just doing a better job than you are at it." Dark Pit then glances back and notices Riku flying around, and as the two share a brief glance the black angel twinges in pain. He then looks back on ahead and continues to fly forward, with Pit further elaborating "Err, what I meant to say was, how did you get here? We had the only key to the Underworld."

"I'm pretty certain he was tailing us Pit. Maybe he realized you would need his help to stop Medusa." Palutena says in a humored tone of voice, and Dark Pit calmly explains "You don't have the only key to the Underworld. Remember? I have Pandora's powers, ergo, a key of my own." "But Thanatos told us that he had the only key to the Underworld, and that Pandora specifically wasn't chosen to guard it." Pit was being surprisingly perceptive about Dark Pit's explanation, which only served to infuriate the black angel.

"Hmm, so that could only mean that I was right, isn't that so, Pittoo?" Palutena taunts Dark Pit for his motives in being hear, but the black angel coolly played things off by saying in a straightforward tone of voice "Don't make me laugh. Now, enough talky talk. There's fight to be done! I'm out of here!" Dark Pit then flies on ahead of the others as a red acid rain begins to fall across the Underworld in the form of pencil thin streams.

As Dark Pit leaves, Pit mentions "Thanks for showing up Pittoo, but I can handle things on my own." The young angel didn't seem at all insulted by his dark self's behavior this time, even if his emotions didn't portray that. Palutena then says "You're no on your own, Pit. You have me." Pit wanted to make sure the goddess of light didn't misinterpret what he saying by exclaiming "Of course! What would I do without you?"

As Pit and Riku glide over a rippling river of red water coming from a tall mountain, Riku mentions "And I'm here too Pit. If anything, and I mean ANYTHING goes wrong against Medusa, I can ensure you that I will have your back." "Thanks Riku, that really means a lot to hear that." Pit states with the utmost honesty in his voice as he glances back at the teenage Overlord and smiles. Moments later, the two heroes are ascending rapidly up the side of the mountain, whose dark crimson expanse is soon engulfed by a rather foreboding darkness.

Pit is on his guard, something that prevents him from being shocked as Medusa suddenly appears from the darkness. She was a titanic, human-like being with pale skin, serpentine eyes, snaky hair, a purple dress that extends from a clip on her shoulders down to the bottom of her legs, and a staff filled with demonic attachments…But though she could be described in those words, the one you couldn't use for her was "real".

In the end, the Medusa Pit and Riku saw before them was a projection, as evidenced by the pale, wavy aura around her body. She said in her usual, sultry tone of voice as she pulled back from the two heroes "So, you've made it this far." "Prepare to taste defeat, Medusa!" Pit exclaims bravely, and with a slow chuckle the goddess of darkness said "Now isn't that just…precious."

The projection sways her body forward, extending her wrinkled right claw out while mentioning "It must be all that hot air that keeps you flying. You are darling. But you will need more than bluster to defeat me!" Pit angrily proclaimed "This isn't bluster! In the name of the goddess of light, I will defeat you!" Medusa's projection then began to pull back, the darkness fading away to reveal Medusa's castle, a gargantuan and twisted mess of a building whose entrance was led into by a path filled with bony arches.

But before Pit and Riku could go fight Medusa, one last obstacle began to ascend in front of them both. It was a white, bizarrely mechanical creature with four glowing orange lights on it's thick wings, a pointed abdomen, a glowing central eye, and four small dark-green wings extended on both sides of it's body. It erected a dark barrier around the entire Underworld Castle and immediately began firing upon Pit and Riku.

Lasers, yellow bullets, energy shields and some mines were thrown around in a heavy bombardment to make things difficult for his two foes. "Whoa, what is this thing?!" Pit exclaims as he weaves around the projectiles and fires arrows at the machine. "It's the Underworld Gatekeeper, Medusa's strongest line of defense! Destroy it and you'll be able to enter the castle!" Palutena explains hastily.

"He's not exactly giving me much breathing room Lady Palutena!" Pit exclaims as he frantically finds himself alternating between the Mirror Shield and Arrows of Light to keep himself from being hit. Even Riku was having a difficult time keeping himself safe, as even with how frequently he swung his sword out some of the bullets managed to strike him. Though it was minor damage for the time being, Riku briefly considered going into his Light form to give him the speed advantage before the damage added up.

"Ugh, it's so annoying!" Pit exclaims as he rapidly fires arrows into the gatekeeper's head, with the creature seeming to take no damage no matter how many shots strike it. Then, in a rather unconventional but surprisingly effective move, Dark Pit dive kicks straight into the left side of the Underworld Gatekeeper's head from out of nowhere, using his strength to drag the machine right out of the sky and straight into the ground, crunching the head apart in the process.

The barrier surrounding the castle immediately goes down much to Pit's surprise, and as the Underworld Gatekeeper malfunctions Dark Pit rises back up with his arms arrogantly folded, proclaiming to the two heroes that were wasting their time "And THAT'S how you take out a boss!" Palutena points out "Heh, just for future reference, drop kicking isn't the most effective of tactics."

Dark Pit gestures towards the castle with his fist and proclaims "Get a move on before more defenses show up!" "He's right. We should get going, even if it means taking orders from HIM." Palutena mentioned, and as she guided Pit towards the entrance of the castle the young angel glanced at his counterpart and said "Thanks Pittoo" in a very appreciative tone of voice.

"Will you PLEASE stop calling me that?" Dark Pit asks in a rather blunt and insulted tone of voice before he flies away from the heroes to deal with the approaching Underworld Army. "Pit, Riku, get ready to go in!" Palutena exclaims as a forewarning, and as the teenage Overlord flies beside the young angel the two of them rocket straight towards the front doors of the castle at the very top of the long, winding staircase.

This triumphant charge into Medusa's castle drops Pit and Riku into a room that had three passages and three statues standing in front of them that surrounded a square hot spring. Pit skids along the ground and stops at the edge of the hot spring, looking around at the statues to see that they were based on three familiar faces. Pandora and Hewdraw were obvious, but the last statue was based on a large three-headed dog named Twinbellows, a creature that Riku hadn't encountered directly on this world.

"Welcome to my castle, Pit. But you have much to do before you can even hope to reach me." Medusa gives a taunting greeting to the young angel, ignoring the teenage Overlord in the process. Pit grit his teeth for a moment, but when the goddess of darkness doesn't say anything else he calms down and asks "Lady Palutena, what's up with these statues?"

"It seems to be some sort of defense system. You're probably going to have to go through those doors to continue onward." Palutena explains, but Pit decides to ask "But they look exactly like Medusa's commanders, could it be that she…" "Brought them back? Doubtful, Pandora's powers are still in Pittoo, meaning she wouldn't be able to be revived. But carbon copies aren't out of the question."

"Then we'll have to face all three of them again. Fair enough, I guess we can split up then." Pit says as he turns to face Riku. The teenage Overlord nodded his head in agreement of the plan but then gestured towards the door the Twinbellows statue was guarding and said "I'll take that door. You fight Hewdraw, and then we'll meet back here and face Pandora."

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a bit then." Pit comments in a serious and confident tone of voice, and then he turns around and runs straight for the door where the Hewdraw statue was pointed towards. Riku takes one glance at the young angel and then moves for the door in front of the Twinbellows statue.

Upon making his way through the dark passage, Riku finds himself being sent to another area entirely. The transition was rather smooth but tinged with Medusa's dark energies, sending a slight chill down Riku's spine as he cautiously looks around. Emerging from the transition, Riku finds himself at the center of an ancient town that was shrouded in the pale darkness of the Underworld.

This was undoubtedly a replica of the first town Pit went to on his adventure that was created by Medusa to suit her purposes, so the teenage Overlord saw fit to draw his sword and glance around between and above the buildings. He knew better than to assume that he was not in danger, as an ambush from a particularly strong enemy like an Orne or Reaper would be likely to damage him if he didn't fight back.

"Come to think about it…Could an Orne kill me instantly?" Riku didn't know the answer to this question, and that was what made him feel a tiny bit worried as he began to advance through this replicated town. It was lucky for him that the Orne made it's presence known with a unique tune, otherwise he'd be feeling slightly paranoid.

Making his way through the town, Riku took down whatever Underworld soldiers he could see before him, having no difficulty due to having the element of surprise on his side against his foes…Admittedly, the difference in strength did help a bit. After a while, Riku ends up in a curved corridor between a series of buildings, where Medusa ends up speaking to him from afar "Well well, you're managing to hold your own. As expected from the infamous Elemental Overlord."

"Unless you have something interesting to say Medusa, I'm not going to speak to you." Riku comments after taking a brief glance towards the sky out of annoyance. "What a sharp tongue you have. Such a pity you are wasting your talents helping out Palutena. As the Elemental Overlord, you are supposed to deal with the wrongs of the universe, so it'd make more sense for you to deal with Palutena for the injustices she committed upon me."

"What Palutena did was punish you for rising up against the humans. And now you're expecting me, a human, to help YOU out?" Riku was slightly disbelieved that the goddess of darkness would try such a foolish tactic, but Medusa attempts to rationalize this by stating "Please…You discarded the right to be called a human the moment you accepted the role as Elemental Overlord. You are a deity, just like Palutena and myself." "I never accepted the role. The powers were given to me at birth. Even if that wasn't the case, I refuse to ever classify myself as a god." Riku's response was calm yet blunt, and this merely irritated Medusa.

"…Hmph, the label you give yourself doesn't change what the rest of the universe is supposed to perceive you as. All you are doing is being humble at that point. Very well then…If you refuse to help me destroy Palutena and her little pet angel, then I will bring my full power upon you. I do not even care that I will be destroying the 'higher-ups' precious little play toy." With that last remark garnering a brief but surprised reaction from Riku, Medusa ends their little conversation there.

After making it through the corridor that he had slowly been advancing through, Riku comments "…So she knows about them as well. Hmmm, it makes sense, considering Palutena's own knowledge." But trying to pry information from Medusa about those 'higher-ups' would be an effort in futility, so Riku just kept that information in the back of his head as he ascended the long staircase nearby and made his way for the grandiose coliseum at the top.

Once inside, Riku finds the three-headed Twinbellows in all of his flaming glory perched with all legs on the stands of the coliseum. The beast lets out a roar from all mouths and then leaps down to the arena, the impact of all four blazing claws sending out a shockwave that disrupts the ground but does nothing to faze Riku. The teenage Overlord holds his arm up to draw his sword in front of his face, but then decides to dispel it while spreading his fingers out and stringing together bits of water between them.

As Twinbellows lunges at Riku, the teenage Overlord swipes his hand towards the clouds above and sends a wave of water straight at them. "Though the Underworld's environment has different properties…" Riku murmurs before he leaps into the air at the exact moment the three-headed dog's claw would've crushed him. While he was airborne, the teenage Overlord glanced down at the beast and then raised his right hand towards the sky.

The water he placed within the clouds has multiplied exponentially, and it all comes down from the sky in the a gushing cylindrical torrent. Twinbellows is engulfed by this water, dousing all of his flames and leaving a red, wet, and undignified dog standing below Riku. The teenage Overlord then claps his hands together, conducting electricity from the clouds that comes down swiftly in the form of a gigantic thunderbolt.

Twinbellows stood no chance as the thunderbolt connected with his damp body and makes him disintegrate into nothingness once more while the beast lets out a deathly roar. Riku then lands on the ground and claps his hands together while saying "Medusa, you really don't stand a chance…" He was subdued with his remark, and a few seconds later the teenage Overlord finds himself being teleported back to the central area. Unsurprisingly, Pit was there relaxing in the hot springs, and the statues for the Hewdraw and Twinbellows had been shattered.

"Oh hey Riku, you finally made it back! I'm surprised Twinbellows took you so long to defeat." Pit spoke rather casually about Riku's return, and the teenage Overlord said in a puzzled tone "Wait, it took me a while? …Guess Medusa held me up more than I thought. Well it doesn't matter, now we can go fight Pandora's copy." "Umm, Riku, you might want to look to the left real quick." Palutena comments.

The teenage Overlord does so, and to his surprise finds that Pandora's statue has also been shattered. He looks back at Pit and says "You already took care of her as well?" The young angel lifts himself up from the hot springs and stretches while commenting "It wasn't that hard with the Three Sacred Treasures…I kind of have to wonder why Medusa even bothered." "At this point I wonder why I did as well. Well, it matters not, you've earned the right to continue through my castle." Medusa explains from afar.

Glancing around in a puzzled manner, Pit asks "Umm, where do I go from here?" Palutena has to answer in a rather odd manner "Just head back to the entrance, it's transformed into a path through the rest of the castle." The young angel naturally replies with a wide-eyed expression as he turns towards the entrance "Seriously? That sounds really counter-intuitive."

"Medusa's castle is just as twisted as she is. Makes sense to me." Riku says bluntly as he stands beside Pit. "You'll run out of your little arrogant remarks once I snuff the life of your soul from your body, that I can assure you, Elemental Overlord." Medusa says with callous intent in her voice, and with arms swung out beside him Pit exclaims "We'll see about that! We're coming for you Medusa, so get ready!" With a vigorous proclamation from the young angel, he and Riku run straight for the staircase leading to the new entrance to Medusa's inner castle…

_Next Time: Medusa's Defeat_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 9b. Medusa's Final Battle (Part 2)**

Moving further on into Medusa's castle, Pit and Riku end up heading into a cavernous domain connected to the mountain underneath the castle, though Palutena assures the two that they were heading down the correct path. "Thanks Lady Palutena, it's always good to have your guidance." Pit says in an appreciative ton of voice, and Palutena jokingly comments "As the goddess of light, I will always be there to **light** the way for you."

Pit and Palutena shared a good chuckle over that rather simple pun, a rather admirable feat considering the seriousness of their current situation. Riku would crack a smile if he was the person he was in the past, but for now he just glances at Pit before stepping forward and looking around the corner to see if any enemies were up ahead. It was then that Medusa interrupted the others, directing her attention towards Palutena specifically by saying "I find it very ironic that you would call yourself the goddess of light."

Pit's demeanor became serious at that point, with him paying full attention to Meduda's words as she struck at Palutena's moral being with her sharp tongue "After all, it was you who turned me into a monster. It was you who had me hunted down." But Palutena responds calmly with "I wouldn't blame me for all that. After all, I only reflected in your appearance what I saw in your heart." Medusa then turns those very words on her counterpart by saying "And what about YOUR heart? I can only imagine what resides there."

But with rather calm and precise timing, Palutena asked of Medusa "Why just imagine it? Don't you have the power to make it a reality?" "What would be the point? We all know you'd just be some sort of hideous creature!" Medusa's words finally tested Pit's patience to their absolute limit, and with a swing of his mirror shield against the nearby rock wall in anger he proclaims "You shut your mouth, Medusa! Lady Palutena is nothing like you!"

His aggression could be felt in every word as he went on to remind Medusa "Who turns people to stone and poisons the rivers? Who reduces cities to rubble? And WHO is leading the Underworld destruction of the land and the heavens? Not Lady Palutena. YOU'RE the one responsible for all this, Medusa! What I don't understand, is how you managed to resurrect yourself in the first place!" Palutena was left completely silenced by how much confidence Pit had in his voice as he tore Medusa apart verbally.

But what Medusa said afterwards was not something Pit or Palutena expected as an answer "…I suppose I don't really understand how that happened either." Pit immediately grits his teeth and exclaims "Don't play dumb with me!" "I…I don't know what happened. My memories aren't what they were." The fact that the usually arrogant Medusa wasn't feeling confident in her own words raised quite a few flags for Palutena.

"You're slipping, Medusa. Your mind isn't all there anymore. And I can sense that your life force is weaker than it used to be. Twinbellows, Hewdraw, Pandora, and Thanatos have all been defeated. But if you withdraw your army and promise to stay in this castle, I will spare you." Palutena decides to take advantage of Medusa's weakened state to give her an honest offer, but Medusa merely laughs it off with renewed vigor and states "Don't be ridiculous. Besides…It hardly matters HOW I returned. What matters is WHY. To exact revenge on you!"

Pit then feels a slight chill in his body as the goddess of darkness states "Turning your little angel into stone is a nice first step…" in a very quiet but blatantly malicious tone of voice. Even with that moment of anxiety inside of him, Pit bravely states "Threaten us all you want. You don't scare me! I will defeat you, and once again return to Skyworld victorious!" Medusa stops speaking at that point, and Pit pulls his Mirror Shield away from the indent he made in the wall with so much as a scratch on it.

"…Pit, thank you for defending me…You don't know how much that means to me." Palutena says in a warm and thankful tone of voice, followed by Pit returning to his somewhat goofy demeanor and saying with an embarrassed blush on his face "Of course Lady Palutena, I have the utmost faith in you." "Well, it's always good to have faith in someone, so long as it isn't done blindly." Riku comments after being silent throughout the prior conversation.

"I absolutely agree. We have 25 years of time together to back-up Pit's faith in me, after all." Palutena explains joyously, but then she gets serious and says "But the time for chatter is later. Medusa's done bothering us for now, so let's keep moving." "Right." Pit promptly stated, leaving the matter of loyalty done for at the moment so he and Riku can keep moving on. Though the cave was a bit like a maze, it wasn't very long before the two heroes made it out and back into the castle itself.

After a while they end up inside of a room that contained four gaps and a rather gruesome, vibrating skull in the center of them all that was bound up by ghastly blue chains. "Umm, why do I get the feeling I don't want to touch that?" Pit says while feeling a bit of dread as he looks at the thrashing skull. "Good observation Pit. That's a Clubberskull, a creature so powerful that even some of Medusa's Commanders are considered weaker than it. So long as you don't break it's chains, it won't be able to do anything." Palutena explains cautiously.

Pit is glad to hear that, but is then very disappointed when he looks past the Clubberskull and sees a veil of dark magic blocking the way to the next room. "Lady Palutena, I don't think avoiding it is going to be an option." Pit comments in a worried tone of voice. "Hmm, it seems Medusa is going to force you to fight it. Very well, you should be fine with the Three Sacred Treasures, but don't get overconfident."

"I won't…All we have to do is knock it into one of those pits, right?" Pit suggested, and Palutena jokingly commented "Heh, Pit's going to knock something into a pit. That's cute." And with a blush on his face the young angel blurted out "I wasn't intending to be cute! N-Never mind, lets get this over with…" He then took his bow out and fired one charged up arrow at the Clubberskull, praying to himself that everything will be ok as he makes this terrible decision.

Once the arrow just nicks the chained up skull, the chains break off, and the creatures is freed. A monstrous heart-like beast roars to life, it's two limbs stretching out so it can support itself with the skull that the two heroes saw and a smaller skull on the other arm. It's eye was bloodshot and wide-open, showing no emotion as it set it's sights on the two standing before and began to run at them, raising and slamming it's skulls against the ground as it charge straightforward.

"Whoa! I-I didn't expect something like this!" Pit exclaims as he rapidly runs to the left and fires off shots at the Clubberskull all the while. Each shot makes the beast's movements temporarily slow down, but doesn't appear to be doing any physical damage to the creature. But the beast doesn't change it's direction and keeps charging straight at Riku, causing the teenage Overlord to draw out his sword and hold it above himself as the creature raises it's right arm into the air with the intention of bringing it down.

Riku braces himself on the ground to take the skull arm head on, the impact of the hardened bone against his blade applying enough pressure on his whole body to make the ground crack below him, a crater roughly fifteen feet wide forming in the process. The teenage Overlord thinks to himself _"He definitely has more physical strength than anything else in Medusa's army…" _as he feels a little pain in his muscles.

But in response to the Clubberskull's attack, Riku uses all of his strength to push up with his sword, turning the beast's weight against him in order to send him falling right his back, where his weighted skulls prove to be a detriment as he's unable to stand back up. The teenage Overlord then glances at Pit and says "Push him into the pit with your Mirror Shield, quickly!"

Pit nods his head and then charges forward, holding the Mirror Shield out in front of his body and using all of his strength to strike the Clubberskull's side before it could get a chance to thrash about. The impact was enough to push the beast a few feet to the side, where the weight of his left skull began to drag the rest of his body down into the pit, the beast roaring all the while. Riku turns to look at Pit, saying to him "Good teamwork there" in an honest tone of voice before the Clubberskull's vicious roar cuts in midway.

Pit runs to the edge of the pit and looks down, where he finds that the Clubberskull has latched to the sides of the pit with the horns in his skull arms and was ready to climb all the way back up. "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" Pit exclaims as he readies his Arrows of Light for another shot at the beast's central eye, but Riku stops him by extending his arm out and saying "That won't keep him down."

The teenage Overlord then looks to the ceiling while Pit asks "Then what WILL?" In response to this, Riku raises his other arm to the sky and dispels his sword, clenching his hand together to break apart the ceiling into large chunks, after which he opens the hand back up and drags the chunks down into the pit, slamming them one after the other into the Clubberskull to increase the force of the impact.

Some of the chunks are thrown at the skulls themselves to loosen the beast's grip on the sides of the pit, eventually forcing the creature to be dragged down the pit like was originally intended, and the fact that it's impact isn't heard shows just how deep the pit ended up being. Regardless, the barrier blocking the way is dispelled, and Riku comments "That would've been more troublesome if there was two of them. Medusa really doesn't know how to utilize the 'strength in numbers' strategy."

"Would it really matter? Both you and Pit are one-men armies, you could probably take on at least ten Clubberskulls by yourselves!" Palutena speaks confidently of the two heroes, but Pit nervously replies "Please don't tempt the goddess of fate Lady Palutena, especially when you were just telling me not to be overconfident!" "Hehe, sorry about that Pit, I couldn't help myself." Palutena's honest apology relieved Pit slightly, and after he takes a moment to rub the back of his helmet he and Riku continue their pursuit of Medusa.

Their travels take them through more of the castle until they end up inside of another cavernous domain, this one more wide-open and filled with Shootflies on the ceiling. It didn't help Pit's case that this time around Underworld Army monsters were coming after him and Riku, forcing him to shoots Arrows of Light to take them down. Riku fought off any Shootflies that tried to go after Pit, since there was no such thing as a Slashfly.

After some time traveling, the two heroes end up at a large chasm that forces Pit to take some grind rails to continue onward. While on there, Medusa once again chimes in with her own comments in a taunting tone "I can sense you getting closer, Pit." "There's nowhere for you to run!" Pit exclaims as he keeps his balance on the grind rail. "Why would I run? I'm so looking forward to our next encounter. I feel like Rapunzel waiting for her prince." Medusa states.

With a sharp tongue Pit firmly states "Sorry to break it to you, but those aren't exactly golden locks on your head." "And you aren't exactly a brave hero. Yet somehow the thought of our confrontation fills me with anticipation. So hurry Pit, I will strip you of your wings and sever you from the heavens forever! …Your little friend's demise will compliment this victory as well." Medusa anticipation could be heard in the way she anxiously spoke, and Pit thrust a fist forward and exclaimed "I don't think so!" Nearly losing his balance on the rail in the process.

As Riku flew a fair distance beside Pit, he glanced over and said "Are you getting nervous?" The young angel replied once he landed on stable ground "Not at all! I can't wait to get this over with! Medusa's terrorized the humans and Skyworld for long enough!" His serious bravado was something to praise, even if the goofy part of his personality would likely take hold once this whole ordeal was over. As Riku landed on the ground beside the young angel, he felt a twinge of regret that he could not be like Pit.

Pit glanced at Riku for a moment and noticed his brief change in expression, but didn't say anything regarding it for now. The two heroes finished moving through the cavern and ended up at the last and deepest part of Medusa's Castle, leading to some floating platforms above a dark abyss. The strongest of Medusa's forces began to mobilize against Pit and Riku, including a rather bizarre wizard with a face made out of breaded shrimp that sat in a horned bowl of friend noodles.

"Watch out, that's a Tempura Wizard! If he gets out with his magic, he'll turn you into-" Palutena's advice failed to reach the two heroes in time as the wizard swung it's magic wand and threw spells right into Riku and Pit, turning them into tempura pieces with legs. Riku and Pit both lost their weapons, and the Tempura Wizard's face grew a mouth that licked it's lips and prepared to lunge at the heroes to eat them up.

But it made the mistake of flying straight at Riku, who still maintained the use of his powers. To prevent the Tempura Wizard from eating him, the teenage Overlord stood still and projected a heavy aura of fire before the creature could reach him. The Tempura Wizard is fried up, burning him until he was black enough to disintegrate into ash, each bit of ash falling into his bowl before that poofs away.

Mere seconds later the two heroes are turned back to normal, with Riku taking a moment to fold his arms together while dripping in sweat, and after Pit looks at himself he comments "Ho boy, I almost became angel food!" Palutena says "That would've been horrible!" In a rather nonchalant tone of voice, followed by Pit stating "Lady Palutena, I'm not supposed to be appetizing to anyone, especially not you!"

The goddess chuckled, and while the two of them had their conversation Riku shook the sweat off of his body and let out a somewhat annoyed sigh. Pit then glanced at him, noticing the stoic expression on his face and decided to ask "Riku, why don't you ever smile?" The teenage Overlord glanced at him and said "This isn't the time to be asking that, Pit. We need to get to Medusa."

"But once we achieve victory over Medusa we're going to be having a celebration at Skyworld! And what's a celebration without smiles?" Pit stands in front of Riku and grins innocently from cheek to cheek, and the teenage Overlord said "A warrior like me can't allow his emotions to get the better of him. Even smiling it detrimental to my efforts." "There's nothing detrimental about smiles! You use less muscles…Or so Lady Palutena told me." Pit tries his hardest to get Riku to smile.

"_I wouldn't bother kid. Riku's been through a lot of stuff, just let him do his moping and stop distracting yourself from stopping Medusa." _Takashi interjects from afar, and the young angel glances aside for a moment and is about to say something when Palutena goes first with "He's right Pit. If he doesn't want to smile, that's his business." "…Fine, I guess…" Pit seemed rather dismayed that he wasn't successful in getting Riku to smile, and turned around ready to move on. Unbeknownst to him Riku had a guilty look in his eyes before the two of them continued onward.

The rest of the castle went by rather quickly, with a large staircase leading to a snake-covered door being the last sight the two heroes see before realizing that they were just seconds away from confronting Medusa. Pit tightened his grip on the bow in his hand and rushes for the dark tunnel as the door creaked opened, with Riku following close behind.

After they moved through the darkness, a little bit of light peeked through, with the two heroes ending up on a balcony overlooking a large circular arena. In the center of the arena, bathed by the darkness of her domain, was Medusa, who towered so high over the heroes that both of them combined were just as big as one of her eyes. She laughed maniacally at the two heroes, her laughter echoing through the domain as lightning cracks through the darkness and flashes her shadow on both sides of the arena.

Pit felt the slightest bit worried as Medusa swung her snake wrapped staff out beside her and said "So you've finally come!" "S-She's huge!" The young angel exclaimed, and both Palutena and Riku quickly urged him to stay focused. Putting on his bravest face, Pit swung his Mirror Shield out and exclaimed with all of his might "Listen well, all you demons of the Underworld! In the name of the goddess Palutena, the defender of all that is good…Those who hide in the darkness will be made to face the light!"

Medusa had enough of Pit's attempts at bravery and raised her right fist into the air ready to crush him. With the help of her magic, Palutena quickly equips Pit with the Pegasus Wings, making them glow brightly as she exclaims "Fly, Pit!" The young angel and Riku take to the air before Medusa's fist crashes down on the balcony and makes it crumble apart. With her attempt to squash those she considers bugs having failed, Medusa lifts her body up and glances at both heroes.

Pit prepares to fire his arrows at Medusa's face, but the goddess of darkness swings her staff out and creates a very powerful gale that throws the young angel and Riku far away from the arena, placing them above a sea of blood red water that surrounded the outer rim of the castle. Palutena uses her powers to push against Medusa's might, guiding Pit's flight the long distance back to the arena while commenting "I'll guide you back to the best of my ability!" "Thank you very much!" Pit exclaims while holding his bow out to shoot down and debris and projectiles that Medusa sends at him from afar.

Meanwhile, Riku holds his sword out and concentrates on a particular element, which leads to him being covered in a veil of bright white a few seconds later. When he finishes his transformation, he emerges from the veil wearing angelic robes and armor, with two wings behind him and a diamond bladed katana grasped in his right hand. Now that he was fit to fight the goddess of darkness, the teenage Overlord flies forward to catch up with Pit.

He ends up beside him right as they rise up the side of the arena and see Medusa standing patiently in the center of it. Pit glances at Riku and comments "Whoa! Where did those new clothes come from?!" "So this is the Elemental Overlord's legendary Light form. Perfect, I will be able to prove the hyperbole of that particular legend at this very moment!" As Medusa exclaims this, she thrusts her head forward to try and strike Riku with her paralyzing gaze, which comes out in the form of a couple beams.

Riku raises his katana up and swings it out to deflect the beams towards the ground of the arena, his blade being untouched by the effect due to it's absolute purity. The beams strike the ground and turn part of it to stone, with Medusa surprised that her powers didn't work. While she was distracted with the teenage Overlord, Pit is able to fly closer to Medusa's body and start pelting her face with arrows of light from the right side, which causes her to grimace and swing her right arm up to try and swat the young angel away.

Every movement of hers compliments her gigantic size, with a gale being thrown up that sends Pit a little higher into the air when she fails to hit him. "Whoooooa!" The young angel proclaims, and Medusa grits her teeth as a way of cursing her momentary failure. Medusa then glances to the left and sees Riku charging at her with sword held beside him. It was then that the goddess of darkness stamped her staff against the ground and surrounded herself with a veil of crimson darkness that teleported her away from view.

Riku didn't choose to swing his sword out and floated upright while glancing around. The revelation of where Medusa ended up was revealed to him when the goddess of darkness showed up behind Pit and swung the tip of her staff down to try and cut him. Palutena exclaimed "Watch out!" and the young angel flipped around and flew back before he was struck, and Medusa's staff crashed against the ground and shattered it apart.

"Grrr…How can something so small be so hard to hit?!" Medusa expresses her frustration at Pit's maneuverability, and then immediately threw out another petrifying beam towards the angel's wings. Riku covers the distance necessary to get in front of Pit in a second and blocks the gaze with his sword. Pit then rises above Riku and doesn't waste time in firing a charged Arrow of Light that strikes Medusa between her eyes, inflicting severe blindness upon her as the energy spreads out in a single burst.

Medusa lets out a pained and angered cry as she raises her empty hand against her face and tries to regain control of her vision. As she does this, she teleports again before another attack can be performed on her vulnerable being. Riku senses the movement of her dark energies and turns around, and in paying attention to Riku's movements Pit does the same moments later.

As Riku sheathes his katana in his hilt and uses that action to charge up light energy in the blade secretly while Medusa can be seen recovering from being blinded. But in a shocking move the goddess of darkness uses her powers to create an exact copy of herself, and then she proceeds to teleport both herself and her fake across the arena multiple times to confuse her two opponents. Riku glances around and tries to get a feel for Medusa's real energy signature, but finds that the goddess of darkness made her clone have it be exactly the same.

"What's the matter? Having a difficult time finding the real me? Hahahahaha!" Medusa's voice echoed across the battlefield from the mouths of both her selves, and her taunting tone only served to fluster Pit. "Ugh, Lady Palutena, can't you figure out which one is the real deal?!" "Sorry Pit, she's done too good of a job on that clone of hers. You'll just have to take them both down!" Palutena lamented her inability to help out in this matter, and Pit swung his bow out and took a serious glance at the Medusa standing in front of him.

"You're just stalling, Medusa!" Pit exclaims angrily, and the goddess of darkness states "What's the matter…Worried? You won't survive if you let your fear take you over. Not that I care…" "Arrgh, you don't scare me Medusa! I'll take you on no matter how many of you there are!" Pit then flies straight at his copy of Medusa, and Riku glance back while noting that while it was a little reckless the move of dividing their forces was pretty sound.

"So, what was that about not knowing 'strength in numbers'?" Medusa comments towards the teenage Overlord, but Riku doesn't give a response and he gives the goddess of darkness a firm glance and extends his right arm out to create a radiant energy sword with a halo that surrounded his clasped hand, since he wanted to save his charged blade for when he finds the real deal. The Medusa in front of him takes his staff out and swings it across the air to slash at the teenage Overlord.

Riku takes his energy weapon and swings it out to parry the blow, but doesn't use enough strength as the impact of Medusa's blow proves to match her size as she's able to push Riku back quite a few feet through the air, and the muscles in his right arm vibrate in pain. But he wouldn't get time to worry about that as Medusa swung her staff back again and forced the teenage Overlord to block it from a stationary position.

After being pushed back through the air a few more feet, Riku thought to himself _"She lives up to her title, that's for certain. I'll fight her with speed instead, in that case." _The teenage Overlord keeps out his energy sword while surrounding himself in a veil of light, and with a firm glance at Medusa's weapon he waits for her to swing out her staff again before he zips right past it and goes directly in front of her face at the speed of light.

Riku slashes across the front of Medusa's face with his energy sword in the blink of an eye, leaving a wide-open glowing gash in a diagonal across the face. But Medusa doesn't flinch, which immediately hints the teenage Overlord that he was facing the clone. The purpose in Medusa's copy was clear, and that was to divide and conquer the two heroes. The biggest flaw in that, however, would become evident as the clone fades away and Riku turns around to see the real Medusa.

She was struggling to fend off Pit, who used the Mirror Shield to deflect away her projectiles, and the agility of his flight to dodge the swings of her staff. He was no longer getting fooled by her teleporting away, as Palutena was there to guide him to where she would appear next. Combining that with his ability to pepper her with Arrows of Light, and it was understandable why Medusa exclaimed "Why…Why can't I squash you?!"

"You're old news Medusa! You couldn't defeat me 25 years ago, and you'll never defeat me now! It's over!" Pit exclaims triumphantly as he pulled back to dodge yet another bitter slash from Medusa's staff, and with a pull back on his bow he fires off a gigantic arrow of light straight into Medusa's chest. The goddess of darkness lurches back in pain, letting out an angered roar before Palutena steps in and summons forth a series of golden glowing chains from the arena that tightly wrap themselves around Medusa's legs.

"I've trapped in place! Now's the time to finish her off Pit!" Palutena exclaims, and in an angered tone Medusa states "You witch! How dare you…!" At a boiling point, Medusa suddenly slams her staff against the ground and lowers her head to hide herself for a moment. She then lifted it up and roared as her face has undergone a monstrous transformation. Her skin has become decrepit and green, with a single bloody red eye being there in the center of it all.

"It's hideous!" Pit exclaims in shock, and as Medusa finds herself reduced to a blathering mess Palutena comments "That's the Medusa I remember…" Lifting her left claw against the cheek of her face, the goddess of darkness has to just shove it once to make the head twist right off of her neck after a couple of rotations. The head is capable of flight, and with hair lashing about Medusa starts to fly straight at Pit.

Her desire for revenge overtook all other emotions, and Pit was pulled back by Palutena to keep him a safe distance away from Medusa. "I can't believe's still fighting like this…But this is a battle we cannot lose. You must overcome the darkness of the Underworld with light!" Though Palutena had some concerns for Medusa's current state, she could not ignore the crimes the goddess of darkness had committed and made sure Pit would stay focused on that.

Medusa fired out giant blood red beams from her mouth and skull-shaped projectiles from her eye, forcing Pit to weaving around the air as he and Medusa move above the outer rim of the arena. Riku tracks both of their movements and glances down at his hilt, feeling that the blade had been charged up well enough. The teenage Overlord draws his katana out and looks at the luminescent blade for a brief moment before looking back at Pit.

"Pit, catch!" Riku draws his sword back and throws it forward with a swift flick of his arm, giving enough of an alert so the young angel is able to turn his head to the right and extend his respective arm out to grab the glowing katana, being allowed to do so by Riku's permission this one time. Figuring out what Riku was wanting, Pit couldn't help but feeling the warmth of light coming from the blade and comment "This is so cool!" as Medusa starts to fly back to her stagnant body for one final attack.

Once the head and body were reattached, Medusa glared at Pit and began to summon forth a laser from her eye. Pit took Riku's katana and placed it in the center of the golden bow, pulling back on the handle like it was the string and taking aim at Medusa's eye from the edge of the arena. "The battle against evil ends here!" Pit exclaims, firing off Riku's katana once he felt confident in his shot. The katana was surrounded in the golden, arrow shape glow of light that the bow naturally projects and flew through the air in a swift, straight line.

Riku didn't even need to help guide his sword, as Pit proved his skill as an archer true as the katana pierced right through Medusa's eye before she could attack, cracks of golden light emerging from the backside of her head before the katana pierces straight through and pulls Medusa's head backwards along with it. Riku takes his katana back and sheathes it, knowing that Medusa had been killed with that action to justify changing back into his normal form.

Medusa starts to pull up, dragging her right arm in futility in front of her before her body is left stiffly in place. Suddenly, the whole of the Underworld trembles, with an unknown blanket of white covering the entirety of Medusa's castle, including the once mighty queen herself, whose shadowed body is steadily disintegrated from head to feet, the particles being dragged into the source of light from above.

With the castle blanketed in this holy light, it too is soon swallowed whole, blanketing it in shadows as it's torn apart into multiple gigantic chunks and disintegrated into nothingness, just like it's owner. Everything is silent for a few seconds, and then some odd, victorious melody begins to play as everything fades to black and some odd words begin to scroll across the foreground…

**Staff**

**Director**

**Sakurai**

**Planner**

**Kamiya**

**Programmer**

**Machino**

**Character**

**Suzuki**

**Animator**

**N. Abe**

As these words appear across the screen, Riku, who is with Pit and Palutena in some unknown area, blinks in disbelief for a few seconds before commenting "Ummm…What's going on here?" Pit exclaims triumphantly "We did it! We really did it!" "Congratulations! I know it wasn't always easy." Palutena says.

The teenage Overlord turns towards the two of them and says "Guys, seriously, there's words floating on a black surface, this isn't exactly normal, is it?" Riku is ignored as Pit says "Aw, but it so worth it! With the world at peace again, even the sun feels warmer!" His innocent remark leads to Palutena saying "Aw, you're so cute Pit!" And the two erupt into joyous laughter.

"Pit, Palutena, can you seriously not see what's wrong with this pic-" _"Now wait just a second." _Before Riku could press the issue of the mysterious text further, another, somewhat eccentric voice interrupted the celebration, which caused the teenage Overlord to show a visible grimace of fear. "Huh?" "Did you hear something?" Pit and Palutena respectively say.

"_I said wait just a second." _The voice comments again in a more demanding tone, and suddenly a pair of tiny glowing red eyes appear a fair distance away. "I've got to be hearing things…" Pit says in a puzzled tone of voice.

Su a claw rea in from ou nowhere an hold of the bl een and the moving text ng it right reveal the son respons the noise mo ago. He was a titanic with a far imposing ce than Medusa, with reen an hair meant to emulat ellish fla purplish th a menacing grin, an cap spread across the enti ide of his and othe r features far too nume to d in a single paragra xt.

"Hmmm, a little jumbled, but it's not a bad representation of the event. Hahahahaha!" After tearing apart the text in this upload to make his appearance, the hellish figure bursts into laughter and the area behind him erupts into crimson flames. Palutena exclaims in a panicked tone of voice "Hades?!" Which leads to Pit questioning "Who's that?" "The true master of the Underworld." The goddess replies.

"Sorry to keep YOU waiting." Hades bows one arm before his body as he spoke. Though the words would make him seem apologetic, the tone he used was of a mocking variety. This is further evidenced by the way he energetically swung his arm out and exclaimed "But now that I'm here lets get this party started!"

Hades then starts to walk before the flames with one hand leaning against his chest and another gestured towards the heroes as he greets them with "Welcome to MY Underworld, Pitty Pat. You too, pretty Palutena. And are my eyes deceiving me, or is that the legendary Elemental Overlord standing beside you too? I must say, I'm a fan of your work." The three heroes reacted differently to his comments, with Palutena laying one hand against her chest and saying honestly "I'm…honored you know who I am."

Riku was very concerned that Hades knew who he was, while Pit continued to remain puzzled by the Lord of the Underworld's actions. "So you two took down big, bad Medusa. My my, it would've been more impressive on your resumes if one of you did it alone, wouldn't you agree?" "Pit could've taken Medusa by himself at any time, Hades." Riku said firmly in response to that.

"Umm, what's with this guy?" Pit murmured out, but before he could any answers Hades crosses his arms and states nonchalantly "That could be proven at any time, Elemental Overlord. After all, it'd be easy to whip up another Medusa for you to fight." "Wait, how?!" Palutena blurts out in utter shock.

"Add a pinch of memories to a ton of souls, put them in a blender and hit frappe!" Hades' explanation is so flavorful that it was hard to notice just how callous it was, but Pit nonetheless demanded that Hades explain himself. Hades stomped around with his arms still crossed, calmly explaining to the heroes that "Her thirst for revenge was so great, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste. Oh, pretty Palutena…you must have done a real number on her."

As Hades makes that accusation he leans forward to glare at her, and Palutena doesn't hesitate to admit "I won't deny that." Hades then pulls back and says "But she's old news, and old news bores me. We must look to the future, and that future is me, the true leader of the Underworld! Next to me, little miss Medusa's going to look like a sweet, cuddly, bunny." Hades gestures at the air with a swirl of his right pointer finger, making sure to emphasize just how dangerous he plans to be.

"No, this can't be happening!" Palutena's panicked cries just showed how desperate the situation had become, and Riku exclaimed towards Hades "It's my duty to stop you Hades! You won't get away with this!" "Oh Elemental Overlord…I can tell you and I are going to have a DELIGHTFUL time together. But for now, I must bid you…adieu!" Hades taunts Riku with his words, and with a saluting gesture off his right hand Hades vanishes from sight, leaving the heroes alone with a terrible new foe on their hands…

_Next Time: Making a Wish_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

...My intention for this chapter was to have the Fake Credits from the game being perfectly replicated in text form for upload along with Hades tearing apart the fourth wall with scarred text representing that, but both plans seemed to have failed since doesn't copy colored or text that isn't Arial font.

And I can't even provide an image link for the 8-Bit text because the site doesn't like that either. Sorry guys.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 10: The Wish Seed**

Tensions were high all across Skyworld in the aftermath of Medusa's defeat. With the news that Hades had been the true culprit behind the Underworld Army's resurgence, the stakes had been raised immensely for all involved. Palutena and Riku both knew better than to ignore Hades' nonchalant and goofy demeanor. Anyone who was powerful enough to resurrect Medusa was a dangerous threat, and could not be taken lightly.

After sealing away the Three Sacred Treasures for safe-keeping, Palutena immediately set Pit and Riku out on another mission. The young angel armed himself with a cylindrical cannon imbued with a fraction of Poseidon's strength and went out the door the goddess of light summoned for him while proclaiming "I can't believe Hades was responsible for the Underworld invasion!"

As he and Riku began to fly through a hot, smoke filled sky Palutena proclaimed mentally "And he created Medusa to distract everyone!" "Truth be told though, it was very odd that Medusa came back. I know you suspected something was up, Palutena." Riku comments, and the goddess of light stated in turn "Between her lack of memories and Thanatos' inability to answer my question, something suspicious was definitely going on. But I never imagined it would get this bad."

"I should have voiced my thoughts sooner, but we would have had to defeat Medusa regardless of whether we pegged Hades as the true culprit or not." Riku says in an apologetic tone of voice, and while Pit blasts Underworld Troops with pressurized blasts of water he asks "So what could Hades be after?" "Who knows? But he hasn't just overstepped his bounds, he's kicked the door down!" Palutena uses a metaphor to explain how urgent things had become.

"What I DO know, however, is that Underworld forces have assembled at a volcano nearby." Palutena explains the reasoning behind Pit and Riku's mission right after, and the young angel glances to the right to see a lava cracked volcano poking up in the distance. But he is then taken down through the smoky clouds, where a landscape of dried magma awaits at the bottom, the surface naturally filled with glowing orange-yellow cracks.

It was then that Pit had a spark of inspiration and said "I've got it! The Underworld army is here to steal magma!" Palutena sighs and then calmly explains "No, Pit. Hades wants the Wish Seed…" Nervously, Pit rubs the back of his head and states "Oh…Right…" He then looks forward and swiftly glides to the right to avoid an eruption of lava coming from one of the thicker cracks, the heat coming from it causing him to sweat in spite of Palutena's protection.

"The Wish Seed is very potent. From what I've heard, it grants any single wish…As you might imagine, it's quite sought after." Palutena's explanation is then followed up by Pit glancing back at his wings and saying merrily "I could really use one of those! My wish would be…to fly by myself!" "Yeah, yeah, I'm well aware of that. Anyways…" Palutena appears to nonchalantly brush off Pit's desires, causing the young angel to turn back with a blush on his face and state "Don't change the subject!"

"Heh heh! The Underworld forces seem to be very interested in the Wish Seed." Palutena points out, and with a more serious and worried look on his face Pit says "Who knows what would happen if Hades got his hands on the Wish Seed. It could be a total disaster!" "I couldn't agree more. You two need to hurry. If Hades has entered the game, then he's playing to win!" Palutena urges.

"We're on it. Besides, if anyone deserves a wish, it's me!" As Pit finishes saying that, the two heroes come across a tunnel drilled within the hardened magma. Palutena takes Pit towards that and Riku follows, the two of them ending up inside of a cave filled with glistening blue rock and tiny streams of lava leaking down from the ceiling. It was a little cooler inside of here, and more Underworld soldiers came by to try and stop the two heroes.

Pit's Poseidon Cannon made short work of them, especially since they were all affected by the heat. He then commented "Considering Hades' is playing to win, he's not really trying very hard with the soldiers." "Mooks are mooks Pit, even with a stronger boss they aren't going to be any different than they were before." "Well he could afford a little more variety. I mean fire enemies in a fire domain? That's pretty cliché."

Palutena and Pit's conversation leads to Riku saying "Well what else would you expect him to do? His army would burn up otherwise." "Well I could've sworn I saw some Monoeyes back there…" Pit says as he and Riku exit the cave, with the young angel glancing back briefly in turn. When he looks back on ahead, he is greeted by an absolutely gorgeous sea of lava as bright as the sun, with the sky alit by the crimson clouds reflecting the lava. A few rocks protruded above the sea, but the most prominent sight was the comets of fire that shot out from the surface and arched back down.

Pit couldn't believe his eyes as his mouth was left agape and he exclaimed "This is incredible!" The young angel then swerves himself around the fire comets to avoid getting his wings singed off, while Palutena says in an impressed tone of voice "Yes, the volcano's guardian put on quite a show." "Who's the volcano's guardian?" Pit inquired.

"The immortal bird who lives there. The Phoenix." Palutena's explanation was short and sweet, and Pit started to piece things together while mumbling "Hmm, so if the Phoenix is protecting the Wish Seed, doesn't that mean he created it too?" Instead of answering that question, Palutena went off on another matter entirely by mentioning "That reminds me…Phoenix eggs make the most divine omelets…Or so I've heard."

"What does THAT have to do with ANYTHING?!" Pit exclaims in sheer disbelief of the goddess' gluttony. Riku then quietly chimes in by mentioning with a curious rub of his chin "You know, I would actually like to know what Phoenix Eggs would taste like. If the creature has any unborn eggs, we should try and grab one while on the mountain." "You too Riku?!" The young angel was especially taken aback by Riku falling in line with Palutena's idea.

"Heh, come to think about it, the Phoenix is greatly connected to the Elemental Overlord's legacy. It is said that by combining all seven elements, the Elemental Overlord gains the wings of a Phoenix." Palutena's explanation leads to Riku commenting "Wait, seriously? I never knew that." "I'm surprised to hear that, surely that detail would've been in your user manual…" Palutena says nonchalantly.

"Well I wouldn't say I got a 'manual' when I started this mission of mine. I've mostly been winging it." Riku comments, his head hanging slightly in regret once he was done. After letting out a sigh he flew a little bit away from Pit, with the two of them going into a chasm of cascading lava a few seconds later. Pit then harkened back to a prior subject by asking "Say Riku, if you got a hold of the Wish Seed, what would you wish for?"

"What would I wish for? …Hmm, you know, I've never actually thought about something like that before." Riku floats himself upright and folds his arms in a contemplative manner, lifting one hand up to rub the bottom of his chin while dispelling his sword for the time being. The fact that the teenage Overlord continued on with this line of thinking for a while surprised Pit, who commented to Palutena "I guess Riku has a lot of ideas for wishes."

"Color me surprised, I thought he'd simply say 'wish for balance amongst all worlds', since that's supposed to be the mission of an Elemental Overlord. I'm actually curious to know his answer now…" Palutena said with deep intrigue in her voice. She then asked "By the way, how are you holding up?" Pit noticed the sweat dripping everywhere across his body and said "I'm…very sweaty."

"Well good news then, we should be coming up to a tunnel route that might be cooler. But it might take us a little out of the way. Tell you what, you can decide where to go, Pit." Palutena gives control of the path to the young angel as he and Riku rise out of the chasm. There was a tunnel buried in hardened magma to the left, and the volcano the two needed to head to was off in the distance to the right.

"Do you really need to ask? If I can find some cool air, then the tunnel is where I'm going!" Pit pumps his left fist towards the tunnel, and Palutena says "Alright then. Hang on, we're going in!" Pit flies towards the tunnel, and after noticing his change in course Riku stops pondering about the wish and moves his arms away so he can fly after him. The two head into the tunnel, with the teenage Overlord commenting "I wasn't able to figure anything out, sorry to say."

"Don't feel pressured, it's not like we'll use the Wish Seed for ourselves anyways." Palutena says, and Pit lets out a disappointed "Wait seriously? Awww…" "Sorry Pit, but the Wish Seed isn't ours to take, not so long as it's being guarded by the Phoenix." Palutena explains in an empathetic matter, and Pit hangs his head for a few seconds afterwards.

Once he's done sulking, Pit and Riku enter a large cavern with tall stalagmites and more of the small lava streams coming from the ceiling. Pit looks down and sees some magma slowly rising towards him, which causes his expression to change to that of worry. "I hope that doesn't rise too quickly…" He murmurs out as he begins to glide into another tunnel, this one having glowing red stones around it.

As the two heroes end up passing through a room filled with a magma pond of sorts, their attempt to make it out through the tunnel on the other side ends with a heavy amount of lava flowing right in front of them. Palutena immediately pulls Pit back as the angel freaks out and says "There's nowhere to go!" "Stay calm Pit." Palutena advises as she turns him around while trying to find a way out, but Pit panics and exclaims "Stay calm?! You're not the one about to get steamed like a dumpling!"

"I said STAY CALM!" Palutena exclaims in a very authoritative tone, and Pit zipped his lips almost immediately. By that point Riku states "I've already dealt with the magma blocking the way, we can move on safely now." Pit is then flipped around as Riku finishes using his arms to part the magma flow, and the two of them fly in the center of it to continue on with their mission. They end up in a blue stone tunnel leading up and out of the cave, but before they could make it they had one last obstacle to deal with.

"Pit, Riku, behind you!" Palutena gives out an urgent warning that causes Pit to turn around and see a huge quantity of magma rising up through the tunnel after him and Riku. "Whooooa-oa no, no, please no!" Pit's anxiety reached a critical point as Palutena swiftly increased the potency of his flight and exclaimed "Hang on!" before she sent him rocketing up through the tunnel. Riku increases his speed as well and moves to outrun the magma flow.

As the magma inches closer with every passing second, the walls radiate with crimson light, and Pit's heart thumps against his chest rapidly. It was only once the two of them made it out just as the magma erupted into the air that Pit could let out a relieved sigh and comment "That was WAY too close for comfort…" "No need to get all hot under the collar though, right?" Palutena nonchalantly jokes, and Pit folds his arms together with a sour pout as he replies "You just couldn't resist, could you?"

Pit is then turned away from the raging inferno and carried onward to the Phoenix's volcano, where the hardened magma seems to be taking on more cone-like shapes the closer they get to the domain. "I can feel the Phoenix's presence from here. It's so majestic…" Riku comments, and Palutena in turn says "Get ready to land soon you two." Pit was ready to go, and all it took after that was one swift dive towards the volcano for them to reach their destination.

But Palutena was a little forceful with the landing, and Pit skid along the ground until he was losing his balance at the edge of an elevated rock. He turned around on the dime and tried to regain footing, but ended up falling back first onto the ground below. It was lucky for him that the magma was a good twenty feet away, or that reckless landing would've gotten him fried. Riku gently lands beside Pit as he gets back onto his feet and bemoans "Could you be a little less rough?"

"The Underworld Army has already reached the Phoenix. But they are facing heavy resistance." Palutena explains after swiftly ignoring Pit's remark. "Sounds like the Phoenix is pretty tough…So remind me, if we can't take the Wish Seed for ourselves, what are we going to do?" Pit inquires, and the goddess says in response "Well, we're probably going to have to destroy it, which means facing the Phoenix itself in battle."

"I really don't want to, he seems like such a nice guy." Pit comments in a melancholy tone of voice, which is then followed up by Palutena mentioning "Don't worry, he'll just come back to life. He is a Phoenix after all." Though the young angel felt reassured knowing that, he still thought it wise to mention "Even so, we're not going to earn any favors from him by destroying the thing he's trying to protect."

"True enough, but it's either we destroy it or Hades grabs it. It's not meant to be a win-win situation this time around, Pit, sorry." Palutena gives Pit the gist of this whole mission, and though the young angel sighs he lifts his Poseidon Cannon up and comments a moment later "Alright then, we'll just do what we can."

The trek through the molten domain then begins, with the clouds in the sky looking dark red due to the current atmosphere. There was definitely a sense of caution on Pit's mind now that he was dealing with Hades' reign over the Underworld Army. Of course, since the subject of Hades ended up crossing Pit's mind, who else would start communicating with the lot of them a few seconds later but the Lord of the Underworld himself?

"Well helloooooo there! Glad to see you two make it!" Hades' delivered his usual enthusiasm as he opened up the conversation with a greeting, and Pit immediately responded with anger as he proclaims Hades' name. Keeping a steady pace through the volcano while dealing with Underworld troops, Pit and Riku listened in as Hades said tauntingly "Settle down there, Pitty. Ladies don't like high-strung fellows."

Hades then went straight to picking apart the group's intention by stating "So the 'good guys' covet the Wish Seed too. Tell me, goddess, what do you wish for? Is it all kittens and rainbows, or is it something more…interesting?" Palutena immediately replied "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Hades had a spark of life within him as he merrily stated "Thanks SO much for asking! I just have one humble, little wish."

An image of a young girl crying over a couple of graves is then projected into the heroes' heads, with Hades' explaining "You see, there is this poor, little girl who lost both of her parents. There was an unfortunate accident, if you know what I mean." The Lord of the Underworld wasn't exactly being subtle as he laughed at the end of that sentence, and Pit immediately exclaimed to him "You mean you murdered them!"

Hades tries to nonchalantly brush that off by saying "It was a simple case of distracted chariot driving. I shouldn't have been my hair." "I can't imagine there being a chariot big enough to fit you, not without you killing thousands of other people by riding it." Riku bluntly replies, and Hades says in an amused tone "Hey now, I'm very sensitive about my weight. Anyways, I was hoping to use the Wish Seed to bring back the parents. Can you think of anything more joyous than a family reunion?"

Hades using a picture of zombie parents surrounding the little girl to illustrate his point didn't exactly paint a picture of "happiness". It didn't help that he further exaggerated his point by showing them all surrounded in gold coins as he explained "Then after that, they'd strike it rich! Like rolling-in-dough rich! And then we'd slap crowns on all of them and make 'em royalty! And that's the general gist of my wish. Pretty noble and not at all evil, right?" Even Pit could tell how sarcastic Hades was being at that moment, and gave the Lord of the Underworld an annoyed glare in response.

"I can't think of anyone MORE deserving of the Wish Seed than yours truly." …For a supposedly humble wish, Hades himself was being far from humble when saying that. Palutena was right to call him out by saying "Let me get this straight. You, the Lord of the Underworld, want to revive the dead. That's somewhat at odds with your 'mission statement,' wouldn't you agree?" "Don't tell me the goddess of light hasn't heard of altruism before." Hades replies.

"That's a load of baloney and you know it!" Pit bluntly states as he gets onto a nearby beetle tank and begins to ride through the lava-y domain without harm. "My intentions are pure. As lord of the Underworld, you have my word." "That just makes me more suspicious." Palutena rightfully states.

"Ouch. Your words are as cold as a sharpened icicle…Speaking of ice, however. Oooooooh Ricky, mind telling the class what type of wish you'd like to make?" Hades' nonchalant response to Palutena's remark is then followed up by him calling out to the teenage Overlord with his own designated nickname. All things considered, Hades could've gone for a much worse one. Riku groaned slightly but then admitted to Hades "Sorry to disappoint, but I have no idea what I'd wish for if given the chance."

"Oh come now, it's not good karma to lie to others. You're telling me that one of the famed reincarnations of the Elemental Overlord doesn't have anything he desires?" Though the first sentence reeked of hypocrisy, the second part had a more pressing inquiry that had an undertone of Hades knowing something about Riku's past. But Riku wasn't tricked at all into revealing anything, and immediately said to him "Nope, there's nothing I can think of. Besides, I don't intend to abscond with the Wish Seed."

"Heheh, if you say so, Ricky boy. We'll see how long your resistance to temptation lasts." Hades then leaves things alone for a bit after that silver-tongued remark. As Pit rides the beetle tank over hills and through a winding path, Riku runs beside him and says "It's nice to know the lord of the Underworld can just jump in and bother us at any time…" "I wish I could do anything to block him out, but he's pretty powerful." Palutena laments.

"Then we'll just have to ignore him. That means you, Pit." Riku comments as the young angel gets off the beetle tank and comments in a somewhat insulted tone "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I'm perfectly capable of ignoring Hades." "Are you sure? We will put that to the test later on then." Palutena nonchalantly jokes.

After proceeding further through the volcano, Pit and Riku come across a split in the pathway. To the right was a small temple that seemed to grab Pit's interest, and to the left was the obvious path onward. Pit sniffed the air and caught whiff of a particular warmth inside of the temple, and with a glisten in his eyes he began to run for the stone door. Riku glanced at him and commented "Pit, we don't have time for distractions. The left door will lead us to the Phoenix, I can sense that."

As the stone door before the young angel lifted open, his ears ignored everything Riku said as a large hot spring was seen in front of him. With the golden water radiating in his eyes, Pit exclaimed "Yeah! Who has two thumbs and loves hot springs?" He drops the Poseidon Cannon for a moment and thrusts both thumbs up, smiling from ear to ear while proclaiming "Everyone with two thumbs!" He then proceeded to run towards the hot springs, leaping into the air and curling his legs up with his arms to perform a cannonball right into the relaxing waters.

After dealing with the volcano's heat for so long, the hot springs were cooler by comparison. Pit laid atop the surface of the hot springs and floated around for a bit, with Riku walking in and taking a seat beside the Poseidon Cannon so it wouldn't be nabbed by some random Underworld soldiers. "…I guess it's ok to take a bit of a break. We're going to be making a major decision here when we go meet the Phoenix, after all."

"Aaaahh…The Phoenix has good taste…" Pit says as he spreads his arms out and lets all of his troubles melt away. He stays in there for a good three minutes before Palutena gently urges him out with "Alright Pit, I know hot springs are your thing, but we can't sit around here for too long." At that moment Pit leaps back onto his feet and gets out, saying while shaking the water off of his wings "I wish I could, but you're right."

He then picks up the Poseidon Cannon and glances down at Riku, saying to him "Sorry to keep you waiting." The teenage Overlord then stands up and nods his head in an understanding manner, allowing them both to move back on through the volcano. They take the other path into a multi-tiered lava lake, and as they ran through the air trying to scale their way to the top Hades flamboyantly proclaimed "Oh, Palutena! Pretty Paluteeeeeena! Can you hear me?"

"Yes Hades, I can hear you just fine." Palutena calmly replies to Hades' over-the-top attempt to grab her attention. "You never told me your wish. Even after I bared my very soul to you!" "Well Hades, it's not exactly nice to force a lady to reveal her deepest secrets. After the advice you gave to Pit earlier, you'd think you'd understand that." Riku states.

"Hmmm, how smart of you Ricky…But you know, it's also not nice to make a deal and not hold up your end of the bargain." Hades comments in as serious of a manner as he can muster, but then Palutena bluntly tells him "Yeah well I never believed your wish in the first place. Not only that, but it's made me doubt this entire story. Answer me this: does the Wish Seed even have the power to grant wishes?"

"Well well, it seems you have both looks AND brains? How'd you guess?" After throwing out a compliment, Hades' inquires how Palutena deduced the truth so easily. Meanwhile, Pit exclaims "What?! You mean the Wish Seed is a fake?! Seriously?!" "IT's so obvious to me now. I mean the idea of a Wish Seed is pretty farfetched. An item like that could make anyone more powerful than the gods." Palutena states.

"I wouldn't say that logic proves that the Wish Seed is a fake…It just means the Phoenix has done a great job of defending it." Riku says, but as Palutena points out "Not only that, but I find it highly improbable that Hades couldn't have grabbed the Wish Seed by now." "But if that's the case, then why is the Underworld Army going after a fake Wish Seed?" Pit inquires as he tilts his head in a puzzled manner.

"To make everyone, us included, believe that it's real." Palutena laments, and Hades can be FELT grinning as he says in a complimenting tone "Can't get anything past ol' Professor Palutena, now can I? If there's one thing you can predict about humans, it's their greed. It's physically impossible for humans to resist the lure of a wish-granting item. Even little Ricky here became curious about the Wish Seed the moment you asked him about his desires." Hades' mocks the human race for that particular fault…But Riku found himself unable to disagree, which pained him to admit.

"And since they can't get the Wish Seed from the Phoenix to see it's a fake…You need them to THINK that someone has made off with it." Palutena further pieces together Hades' plan, and the lord of the Underworld drops all pretenses of deception at this point and outright states "And they will drive themselves to extinction battling for it. And that's good for my business. An ingenious plan, if I do say so myself."

"But the Phoenix himself could wipe out humanity if the Underworld Army lets him loose!" Pit exclaims upon realizing this horrid truth. "You're right. We have no choice but to stop him. We've fallen right into Hades's trap." Palutena lamented this fact to herself, and Hades couldn't help but pour salt in the wounds by stating "Flattery will get you nowhere my dear. Actually, scratch that…It'll get out a nice hot date with the Phoenix. Ciao!"

But before he heads off, Riku clenches his fist together and says "Your plan won't succeed Hades. Either we'll stop the Phoenix without killing him, or we'll take you down ourselves!" In response to this bravado, Hades says "You're welcome to come and face me anytime Ricky boy. I have no intentions of changing the locks, and I run a completely 24/7 service of pain down in the Underworld. You know where to find me, so come whenever you're ready!"

Hades briefly got off the connection between the heroes as they reached the last stretch of land leading to the Phoenix's domain. A jagged stone path over open sky leads to a circular arena where the Wish Seed can be seen floating in the center of it all. "The Phoenix is right up ahead." Palutena points out, and the Lord of the Underworld leaves the two heroes to their business with a callous proclamation of "Go die now!"

Pit and Riku run up to the Phoenix's domain, where upon arriving they find that everything is rather calm, which gives the young angel a chance to cautiously look over at the Wish Seed and state "It looks real enough…" But he is then put back on guard when he looks up and sees a burning fireball descending rapidly towards the battlefield. The creature inside spreads it's wings to disperse the fire outward, revealing a giant green-feathered bird with crystallic tips, a gaping golden beak, and flaming yellow eyes.

The Phoenix roars majestically at the two intruders, sending out another ring of fire across the battlefield that brushes lightly against Pit and Riku before it vanishes. "He's not going to let you go without a fight!" Palutena warns them both, but they already knew what they were getting themselves into the moment Hades' charade was dropped. With Riku drawing his blade and Pit arming his Poseidon Cannon, the two prepared for a battle they wished they could avoid.

The Phoenix starts off by gliding around the edge of the arena, swinging it's beak out to launch fireballs from it's mouth. Pit uses the water blasts from his Poseidon Cannon to counteract the fireballs, moving around to track the Phoenix easily. Meanwhile, Riku runs forward to the Wish Seed and leaps at with his blade, cutting right through it with a single slash. The seed cracks apart into little pieces immediately, which shouldn't have been possible.

As the bits of the fake Wish Seed fall to the ground, Riku comments "See, it was a fake after all." He then turns around and looks up at the Phoenix, who angrily roared after seeing the "Wish Seed's" destruction. Pit glanced over at Riku and said "Yeah, well tell that to the Phoenix! You just made him angrier!" The teenage Overlord held his sword out and surrounded the blade in compressed water. He then swung it out to send a gushing stream of water at the face of the Phoenix as it prepared to send out a flamethrower at Pit.

The stream struck the Phoenix with the force of a punch, which jerked it's head back and stopped it from using it's attack. "Pit, never mind the Phoenix's anger. All we can do is kill it now. It'll calm down once it comes back to life." The Phoenix responds to Riku's attack by focusing it's attention on him, covering himself immediately in golden flames so radiant that it eclipsed the light of the magma in it's domain. It then flew in a backwards arch so it could level himself directly above the arena and then glide straight at the teenage Overlord.

Without a change in emotions, Riku held his right fist back and coated it in onyx, then with a straight thrust the teenage Overlord connects with the Phoenix's skull, shattering the golden flames off of the creature's body and making it crash against the ground with it's mouth forced agape from cranial damage. It was a rather brutal move on Riku's part, but Pit didn't comment on it as he waited for the Poseidon Cannon to charge up so he could fire a large blast of pressurized water that bursts across the Phoenix's stomach and deals critical damage to his body.

The creature surprisingly manages to swiftly recover from the cranial blow and flaps it's wings to lift itself off the ground, where another roar awaits more ferocious than the last two. Riku feels the brunt of the Phoenix's vocal wrath, but the boy draws his sword back with electricity surging across the edges of the blade and says "Immortal bird, I'm sorry we trespassed on your domain. Do not think ill of us when you return from your slumber."

He then cut diagonally across the air in a second, his sword being held above his face once the move was performed and a scar of electricity cut itself across the chest of the Phoenix a moment later. Pit didn't need Riku's advice to know what to do next. Waiting for another charge from his weapon, Pit fired a second charged shot against the electric scar. The dispersal of water across the Phoenix's body also carried the electricity with it, which zapped the mythical bird to such an extent that Pit had to glance away from the creature for a few seconds out of pity.

The bird's roar lasted but a few seconds before it was silenced permanently. Unable to flap it's wings, the beast collapsed from the sky and crashed against the ground, exploding immediately in a burst of rainbow light that summons forth a Phoenix-shaped pillar of fire from the ground. Pit glanced at the flames and the destroyed remains of the fake Wish Seed and pumped his left fist up while proclaiming "Now the humans will know the Wish Seed is a fake!"

Riku and Palutena were completely silent at this junction, which only proved foreboding for Pit before Hades chimed in to complete his masterful plan "No no no. That beacon shows the world that the Phoenix has been defeated! Which will only make the humans believe that someone has taken the Wish Seed. Now I'll just give them a little nudge…" Pit's expression turn to that of worry as Hades went on to proclaim across the entire planet "People of the world, the Wish Seed has been liberated! This is your chance to fulfill your wildest dreams! All you have to do is slaughter anyone that gets in your way!"

As the beacon of the Phoenix grew taller with each passing second and the domain was bathed in a crimson light, Pit looked towards the sky and proclaimed in defiance to Hades' words "The people will NOT be so easily deceived!" This caused Riku to glance at him with a somewhat guilty look in his eyes as he shook his head, and Palutena in turn stated in a melancholy manner as she summoned pillars of light to carry the two away "I wish that were true, but I foresee major bloodshed. This is all my fault…" As Riku and Pit are pulled from the Phoenix's domain, Hades' quiet laughter can be heard for a few brief seconds…

_Next Time: Another New Foe_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 11: Viridi, Goddess of Nature**

It wasn't long after the Wish Seed incident that Palutena sent Pit and Riku out again to deal with a new mission. With a one-eyed rocky club in his hands, Pit flew out the usual door along the teenage Overlord, arriving in the midst of a very gruesome and depressing sight. Outside of a random fortification in the middle of a mountain range, hundreds of humans were in the middle of a slaughter fest against each other.

The metal of blades clanging, the trots of horse hooves, and the impact of catapult fire can be heard coming from down below. It was nighttime, and the moon light peering through the darkened clouds only helped to serve the depressing atmosphere set across the land. As Riku and Pit glided down towards the violence, Palutena comments in a lamenting tone of voice "The humans have fallen for Hades' hoax. They're killing themselves over that fantasy!"

"It looks like entire nations are fighting each other!" Pit comments after seeing just how many humans have assembled onto the battlefield. Amidst the fire, brimstone and corpses there were many Underworld soldiers collecting the souls of the fallen for their master. The swarm was larger than it has ever been, and Palutena in turn comments "The Underworld army is here to gather souls. Clearly they expect many causalities. I know this is probably hard for you two, but you can't stop a war this big on your own…Not right now."

"So focus on the Underworld Army…Got it Lady Palutena." With a nod of his head Pit began to swing his club around, sending out heavy gusts of wings at the Monoeyes and Reapettes to take them out. Riku went around and rapidly cut down the Underworld Army with his sword, showing them no mercy as he zipped across the air without getting close enough for the humans to notice him. After all, an angel is not an unusual sight on this world for human standards, but a flying human would raise some alarms in the middle of this madness.

The teenage Overlord felt every life being snuffed out one after the other, which while painful to experience did allow him to determine where the Underworld Army was going to show up so he could save more souls from falling into Hades' vile grasp. Riku couldn't overcome this feeling of powerlessness no matter how many Underworld soldiers he took down, for the humans would continue to kill each other without end. This was the first time he had been a witness to such a slaughter, and it only made him curse Hades' in his mind.

Pit was still busy dealing with things at a slower but beneficial pace, keeping a conversation with Palutena to try and partially distract himself from the deaths of the humans. "Is there really nothing we can do to stop this, Lady Palutena? Like, wouldn't it be easy to prove to them that the Wish Seed was a fake?" "Pit, if I had an idea on what to do, I wouldn't have sent you out." Palutena mentions in a disappointed tone of voice.

As the young angel flies over the battlefield and dodges the fireballs launched from some catapults, he looks at the humans in pity and says "They've all lost their humanity and replaced it with brutality…" It was by that point that Riku flew by Pit and says "I apologize on behalf of my kind, Pit. Same to you, Palutena." As he flies alongside the young angel again and began to rise above one of the smaller fort, Palutena commented towards him "It's not your fault."

Riku grimaces as even more humans die, but even in the middle of all that pain the teenage Overlord could sense something powerful falling rapidly from the sky. It had a rather plant-like feel to it, and it was only a matter of seconds before it would finally crash with the planet's surface. Palutena sensed it as well, letting out a shocked gasp as a large glowing circle burns apart the clouds in the sky. "What's wrong Lady Palutena?!" Pit exclaims in utter shock.

"We're getting out of here, now!" Palutena didn't bother to explain herself as she hastened the speed on Pit's power of flight and flipped him around, sending him hastily away from the human's battlefield as he only is able to glance back at a gargantuan burning object mere seconds before it crashed against the surface of the planet. Riku flew alongside him, but was flying backwards to watch as the object fell into the middle of the human's slaughter fest.

What ensued was a wide scale, bright pink explosion that spread out rapidly across the land that demolished all the buildings and landscape that fell into range of it's devastating might. And worst of all, Riku's head throbbed in anguish as hundreds of human lives were killed in a single instant. The explosion's light reached such an intensity that it left the atmosphere covered in a blinding flash right as Pit turned back around to try and see what was happening.

Palutena continued to guide Pit away until the light fades from sight, at which point only one thing remained from the explosion. A bright pink dome had formed of flora and wood had been created, overriding the moon light in the sky with it's pink-red glow while the ground was bathed in a pinkish but clean smog. As Pit was greatly puzzled by what just happened, a far-too overjoyed laugh echoed across the lands. However, it wasn't Hades responsible for this laugh, but rather a new, feminine face.

As another bright light appears from the corner of Pit and Riku's vision, a gargantuan shadow appeared from it that belonged to the mysterious new voice. After a few seconds the shadow becomes a true projection while the voice brags in a childish manner "Nice shot, if I do say so myself!" The person's appearance is thus revealed, showing her to be a towering figure wearing a dark crimson dress that reached to her feet and a strange ivy laurel that tied up her blonde hair into a very long ponytail. In the person's pale right hand was a magic staff as tall as she was that had a mythical, nature-ish design to it.

Though the person was towering in her projection, the fact that she had the physique of a female, human child suggested that she was exaggerating her size for the sake of intimidation, a theory that is further backed when she swung her staff out across the land and proclaimed "Good riddance, human scum! The world's better off without you!" As that deathly declaration echoed throughout the planet, the projection quickly faded from sight.

Riku glared at the person, trying his hardest not to let anger the better of him as he clenched his right fist around the invisible handle of his sword. Palutena then mentioned to both heroes "That was Viridi, the goddess of nature. Both of you should go check things out!" Pit nodded his head without hesitation and began to fly towards the floral dome while stating "I'm on it!" Riku followed close behind him, and as one-eyed leaf-winged acorns began to fly at the two heroes Viridi began to address the survivors of the object she launched.

"So you're the famous Palutena. I heard you've been busy." In a contrast to her earlier tone, Viridi spoke respectfully towards the goddess of light, and in turn Palutena stated in hesitation "And you're Viridi, ruler of the earth and all living things." "Hmph, I didn't know I had a fan club!" Viridi sounded prideful of being recognized, but Pit had other plans in mind besides patronizing the goddess.

"WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS?!" He exclaims in a demanding manner. Viridi explains he reasoning rather swiftly but fiercely "Humans are driven by selfish desire. They care only for themselves. They were killing each other for what? A wish?! A FAKE wish?! They've strayed too far from their intended path. That's where my Reset Bombs come in, to help return Earth to its natural state!" Her anger towards the human race was clear, and she didn't pull any punches to show that.

Pit and Riku pass above one of the few surviving mountains in the area, and find that the situation with the Reset Bomb was worse than they had imagined. Not only was everything the humans had built obliterated, but the land had become terraformed into a gargantuan crater that houses the glowing, nature filled sphere that exists in the center. Palutena had objections to Viridi's reasoning and began to say "But aren't hum-" "Humans are living beings too! I don't care about your domain over nature Viridi, you're abusing your power and are prepared to commit genocide! You have made an enemy of me today, and I represent the entire human race as I stand against you!" Riku stepped in in place of Palutena to call Viridi out, and he clearly had a hard time holding back his anger as he spoke.

"Yeah, well that's rich coming fro-" Viridi was about to reply to Riku's remark, but then realized midway that she didn't recognize the person in question. More puzzling for her was the fact that the person calling her out was a clearly a human. "Hey, hold up a moment. A flying human?! Did I blink and miss a stage in your evolution or something?! Who are you?!" Viridi demanded to get answers, and it was then that Palutena stepped in and said "His name is Riku, but you might know him by his other title, the Elemental Overlord."

After a few seconds of suspicious pause, Viridi replies with a greatly puzzled sounding "…Who?" This naturally caught Riku off-guard, especially since every other god or goddess he had encountered up until this point had recognized him either once Palutena brought it up or by natural knowledge. The teenage Overlord couldn't help but feel some satisfaction in having the element of surprising on his side against Viridi, and Palutena knew the value of that as well by stating to Viridi "All that matters is that he is on our side, Viridi."

"Hey, after this human thinks he has the right to talk back to a goddess, I think I also have the right to know what his deal is in compensation!" Viridi exclaims. "You don't really have the right to call yourself a goddess, Viridi. A proper goddess is supposed to not overstep their bounds, and that is what you have done here today." Pit and Riku begin to glide around the twisted branches that weave together the outer wall of the Reset Bomb forest as Riku berates the goddess of nature for her behavior.

"Ugh, you're really annoying me here!" Viridi states out of sheer frustration, while Pit and Riku dive into a single hole near the top of the sphere to further explore this twisted forest. The young angel glanced around, finding himself unable to enjoy the beauty of the plants and branches that filled this domain simply because he knew what the cost was to create this place. "This is a pretty twisted version of nature…" He remarks.

"HUMANS massacre Earth's creatures, decimate the trees, and exploit the land. THEY'RE the twisted ones. They're enemies of life itself! Tell me, Palutena, why do they deserve special treatment?!" Viridi retorts to Pit's single remark, and the goddess of light puts on her strongest defense for the human's by mentioning "Because of all creatures, humans are closest to the gods. Riku is right, you have intervened in mankind's affairs. You don't have the right to do that, Viridi."

"No right?!" Viridi was outraged by such an arrogant sounding remark, and then went on to explain try and rationalize things by saying "Humans are trampling over the rights of every other living thing! Should I just sit back and watch as they continue to destroy the earth? No, I must exterminate them all before it's too late!" After all that this conversation has revealed, Palutena could only sigh and say in a lamenting tone "There's just no reasoning with her."

"I have to admit, she has a valid point." Pit comments in a regretful tone as he passes through a thicket of stone rings, earning a brief glare from the teenage Overlord before he mentions "But wiping out humanity is NOT the answer." "I agree completely…" Palutena felt renewed upon hearing Pit speak, and the goddess went on to say "You've given us no choice but to oppose you, Viridi."

A brief but haughty laugh can be heard from the goddess of nature before she goes on to say "Oh! That's brave of you, but the Forces of Nature…We're not what you're used to." Upon mentioning this, Viridi snaps her fingers, and from all across the Reset Bomb forest enemies of different shapes and sizes begin to fly at the two heroes. The flying nuts from earlier called Nutskis return in droves, followed by flying fish skeletons called Lurchthorns and single-cell looking organisms with a leaf on their heads called Pips.

Pit and Riku fight off the Forces of Nature…forces, with pretty much the same ease as the Underworld Army, leading to Pit commenting "Well I can say they look different than Underworld soldiers, but that's not really an improvement…" By the time the two heroes had finished off the Forces of Nature soldiers, they were ascending towards a bright yellow light at the very top of the Reset Bomb forest, and Viridi said in a complimenting tone "Well well, so you two have some fight in you, color me impressed."

"How kind of you!" Pit said with the utmost honesty in his voice, and Riku merely continued to glare at the goddess from afar. "I think it's time you met one of my finest warriors…" Viridi murmured out, and Riku immediately sensed the presence of stone descending rapidly from the top of the forest. The teenage Overlord swerves to the left to get out of the way as a small blazing object rapidly plummets towards him and Pit, with Viridi proclaiming during that "Come on out, Cragalanche!"

The one known as Cragalanche manages to collide with Pit, hitting him so hard that the power of flight is knocked right out of him, his body tumbling around as it began to descend back towards the lower parts of the forest. As he let out a surprised cry of pain, Palutena proclaimed his name out of worry, and Riku quickly flew down to catch up with the young angel as he eventually lands face first against a stone floor wrapped around a couple of violet branches.

Pit climbs back onto his feet and picks up the Ore Club he dropped, staggering a bit as Riku steps behind him and pats on his back to prevent him from falling over. Once Pit felt somewhat stable, he shook his head while Palutena asked "Are you OK, Pit?" The young angel looks towards the sky with a smile and proclaims "I'm right as rain!"

Now that he and Riku were in enemy territory, Viridi said in an intrigued tone of voice "So Pit, you're the captain of Palutena's guard, yes? I look forward to seeing how you fare against Cragalanche." Pit swings his Orb Club out to the side and proclaims in response "You should be more worried about how HE fares against ME!" Palutena has to calm down his confidence by telling him "Careful Pit, I need you to be in good shape. Besides you, all I've got are the Centurions and Riku."

"Eh, Pit won't get into any trouble while I'm nearby." Riku comments, and Viridi in turn says "Hmph, so you're going to fight too? I give you at least ten minutes before you're crying for mercy from me and my children." The teenage Overlord shrugs his shoulder and replies to that confidence by mentioning "I'll make sure you know what you're up against by the time we're done here."

"I'm looking forward to it. You're the first human who has ever gotten my attention, consider that an honor." Viridi praised Riku for giving her a feeling of intrigue, and the teenage Overlord dryly stated "Geez, complimented by a genocidal goddess in a child's body. I'm touched…Let's get a move on Pit, we got a lot of ground to cover." After brushing off Viridi, Riku starts to advance through the Reset Bomb Forest, and Pit nods his head and follows close behind moments later.

The landscape of the ground didn't differ at all from what Pit and Riku saw while they were flying, so the young angel spent most of his time paying attention for any enemies Viridi chose to send his way. The Orb Club, being more suited for melee combat, was used to hit the air with enough force to send tornadoes at any faraway foes. Riku didn't want to use any of his elements in combat to keep an advantage of surprise over Viridi, so he stuck to using just his sword whenever Pit missed an enemy.

After a little bit of traversing through the forest, the two heroes wind up in a blue-lit tunnel that winds down between a couple of brick walls, which immediately leads to Pit commenting "It looks like there are buildings in here." Palutena remarks "There was probably a town in the middle of the Reset Bomb's path…" Which leads to Viridi interjecting to explain in a way too proud tone "Reset Bombs won't harm wildlife or natural habitats. Their only purpose is the obliteration of humankind."

"Oh, is that all?" Pit comments sarcastically, and after glancing to the right he and Riku find a human soldier wrapped up in a few vines coming out from one of the brick walls. He was moving around, suggesting that he was still alive. Pit and Riku ran to the human, with the teenage Overlord using his sword to gently cut him free from the vines. The human lands on his knees, and immediately Palutena uses her powers to teleport the human to safety.

"Looks like your bombs aren't very effective Viridi, you missed a few humans." Palutena comments in a taunting but secretly relieved tone of voice, and the goddess of nature replies after an annoyed sigh "…That tends to happen sometimes. I can't help it, unfortunately." "But you can help killing Earth's creatures, can't you? Do you even know how many horses were consumed by the Reset Bomb?" Riku points out a moment afterwards as he and Pit continue on through the forest.

"Wait, there were horses being used in that stupid war? …Oh my gosh, I had no idea…" Viridi felt legitimately saddened by this bit of news, and went on to mention "I will pray for them later…At least they will live on within my forest." It was after that moment that Viridi went silent, and Pit commented in a surprised tone of voice "I guess Viridi does have a kinder side to her…She's just mostly consumed by her hatred of humans."

"Well don't let those type of thoughts get in the way, Pit. She's made us her enemy, and that means we have to stop her alongside Hades." Riku comments after folding his arms together for a few moments while the two of them scale a series of thick branches via jump pads. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Hades…Geez, he probably got so many souls because of Viridi's Reset Bomb…" Pit spoke in a dreading tone towards this revelation of his.

"Well, the Underworld Army also seems to have been obliterated by the bomb, so no one was around to collect the souls…We can at least thank Viridi for that." Palutena says, though her speculation wasn't really enough to reassure Pit all the way. After traversing a little farther through the forest, Pit ends up at something that ends up being a temporary dead end as Palutena summons forth a winding grind rail for him to use to carry on.

"Thank you very much Lady Palutena!" Pit says in a very appreciative tone of voice, and Palutena mentions "It was a little hard to create it, due to all the clutter." "Calling you a snake would be an insult to snakes! …But you are crafty, I will give you that." Viridi is at first insulted by Palutena's remark, but then finds it fair to give her a little compliment regarding her handiwork. One grind rail and a jump pad later, Pit and Riku find another human trapped in the forest that they swiftly rescue.

But upon doing so, Viridi springs a trap on them by summoning forth a bipedal creature behind them that was made of red cacti and red thorns that wore an odd looking mask on the front of it's body. "Face the power of my Jitterthug!" Viridi proclaims proudly as the creature raises it's arms into the air and begins to charge at the two heroes. Pit makes note of the fact that Riku isn't raise his weapon up as a sign that melee attacks wouldn't be very effective.

Viridi helps prove this theory by being a complete idiot and explaining to her enemies "Melee attacks won't hurt him at all when he's red. And when he's green, shooting him won't work! What are you going to do NOW?!" As the Jitterthug turns green after failing to run into the young angel, Pit shrugs his shoulders and then swings his Ore Club right into the creature's back, launching him high through the air and straight out of sight thanks to the club's incredible strength.

"Well, I guess I could just do the opposite of what I'm NOT supposed to do." Pit comments once that Jitterthug was defeated, and Viridi is left in stunned silence for a few seconds as Palutena merrily says to her "Thank you for the advice." "I-I-I…Ummm…Oh, darn it all!" Viridi blurts out in a disbelieving stutter towards her own stupidity. Now Pit and Riku were able to move on, with the young angel taking a longer grind rail deeper into the forest

At the end of this grind rail was a little something for Pit to use. It was another vehicle of the gods, this one being two golden rings bound together to create a pseudo-sphere. It had guided controls and a small laser cannon on the front of it. "Oooh, an Aether Ring!" Pit speaks in awe of this vehicle before he leaps right into the center of it, placing the Ore Club on his back as he spreads his arms out and floats in the middle of the rings.

Doing a little practice to get used to the smooth flight of the Aether Ring, Pit has a smile on his face as he moves it around. "You're a lucky angel, Pit!" Palutena comments out of joy for seeing her young angel being happy. "Believe me, I know. These things drive smooooth!" Pit says in turn, and Palutena then remarks "Plus they provide both defense AND firepower. It's really designed well."

"Perhaps one of these days I'll take a ride on an Aether Ring myself." Riku comments as he once more plays the spectator to Pit and Palutena's fun. Once Pit was satisfied with getting used to the ring, he used it to glide down the nearby slide while shooting glowing red orbs that punch the Forces of Nature into oblivion. Riku slides on his feet down the slope to keep up with Pit, with the two of them eventually making it to the very bottom.

There they are greeted by another Aether Ring, but this one was high up on a lone tree to the left. "What's another Aether Ring doing there of all places?" Pit said with a curious glance in that direction. "Ask Viridi." Palutena suggests, and the goddess of nature immediately chimes in to explain in a completely enthusiastic manner "I installed it in here for my army…But no one passed Driver's Ed."

As Viridi laments the failure of her plan, Palutena says "I'm not surprised" while Pit says "Pandora had a similar problem, though she was the one without hands, not her army." Riku further rubs salt in the wounds by saying "Don't you wish you had your own angel to operate these vehicles?" Viridi has enough of their mockery and exclaims "You were attacking! I was busy! Leave me alone!" Two excuses followed by a quiet plea came from the goddess of nature, and the conversation is swiftly dropped at that point.

What's also dropped a few moments later is the Aether Ring Pit rode on, since he couldn't take it with him via the nearby jump pad. But though he was disheartened by this, something would soon come up that would lighten his spirits. Past the edge of a stone path was a huge hot spring, with fresh water being poured into it from waterfalls to the left. "A HUGE HOT SPRING!" He proclaims before he leaps down into the waters with club in hand, which increases his weight to the point that he splashes up a lot of water on landing.

Riku's descent into the waters is a lot more delicate, only to find Pit once again lying on his back on the water's surface. "You're seriously doing this again? Pit, I know it's a lucky break to have a hot spring dip two missions in a row, but we got a rock to crush." Riku comments in a stern manner, and Palutena tells straight away "It's fine. You know what they say about hot springs…They are nature's bathtubs! Pit just needs to clean off for a bit."

"He could do that back at Skyworld. We haven't even struggled so far against the Forces of Nature." Riku is quick to point out. "Oh come on, just a few more seconds, pleeeeease?" Pit pleads, leading to the teenage Overlord letting out a sigh and saying "You don't have to ask that of me like I am your father or something, Pit…Just make sure you're ready to move on, ok?" The teenage Overlord let up on the young angel not long afterwards.

Once Pit was finished in the Hot Springs, him and Riku used a nearby jump pad to ascend to the next part of the forest. "Careful Pit, you're in a maze now." Palutena warned, and Viridi bragged to Pit afterwards "My maze is incredibly tough! You two goofballs aren't going to be able to solve this-" "Alright Pit, so first we'll take a left, then another left, and finally one more left and we'll be pretty close to Cragalanche." Riku ignores Viridi's words as he detailed directions to the young angel nonchalantly.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! How do you know the answer to my maze?!" Viridi exclaims in disbelief towards Riku, and the teenage Overlord gestures out his right hand and says "Well, because you just told us." "…I really got to stop opening my mouth." Viridi laments as a slap can be heard coming from her side of things. She then leaves the conversation, and that allows Riku to whisper to Pit "I really just sensed Cragalanche and worked backwards from there, but Viridi doesn't need to know that."

"Heheh, nice one." Pit complimented Riku with a thumbs up, and the two of them moved on in the directions Riku suggested until they were just one platform away from a jump pad that would obviously lead to them to Cragalanche. Utilizing it to their advantage, the two heroes fall a considerable height until they land on the wide-open bottom floor of the forest. There was an arena made of broken brick walls and a large boulder in the center of it all, and Pit and Riku rushed forward to confront it.

Upon sensing their presence, two glowing red lights appear on the front of the boulder, which begins to crumble apart to reveal the creature underneath. Standing on his own head was a pudgy golem made of stone, with two emotionless red eyes, brown colored rounded fists, and stubby feet. As the creature rolls onto his feet, Pit comments "Cragalanche, huh? What are you, a monster truck?" His attempt to make a joke is countered by Viridi saying to him "Pit, huh? What are you, a hole in the ground?"

Needless to say, the young angel was not amused, and neither was Cragalanche. Actually, the rock monster seemed to be permanently stuck with a grumpy expression on his face. "Not really talkative, are you?" Pit comments, and without saying a word Cragalance pulls his right arm back and then swings it forward, increasing it's size and length by two and successfully punching Pit in the face.

Naturally, being made of rock means that Cragalance's punches HURT, with Pit stumbling back a few feet while letting out a few blurts of "Ow!" before he recovers. "You know Pit, rocks tend to be the strong, silent type. Tell you what, I'll do the talking for him." Viridi comments in regard to Pit's earlier inquiry. As Cragalanche slams his fists against the ground to crack it apart below the young angel's feet, with Viridi exclaiming "Cragalanche Crusher!"

Pit stumbles to the right before the ground blows up, then notes the hard structure of Cragalanche's body in comparison to his Ore Club and realizes "I get the feeling fighting melee to melee isn't going to do me much good…Thank heavens he's heavy because otherwise I-" Before Pit can finish his observation, Cragalanche suddenly leaps into the air and launches himself forward like a spinning torpedo, leading to Pit exclaiming in surprise "WHAT?!"

He then rolls to the right and then swiftly kicks back onto his feet as the rock monster lands back on his feet with ease, revealing a vulnerable red spot on the back of his body. "Oh hey, there's a weak spot on his butt!" Pit exclaims, and as he runs forward ready to swing at it with his Ore Club Viridi comments "What?! Cragalanche, you were supposed to get that fixed last week!"

"…" Cragalanche shrugs his broad shoulders and turns around, preventing Pit from hitting his weak spot. As the swing of his club strikes the rock monster's hard chest, the young angel awkwardly laughs and says "Well, this wasn't supposed to happen…" Pit immediately pulls his weapon back and then leaps backwards before Cragalanche can punch him in the face again. Instead, the rock monster raised it's right fist up and formed a whip of brown rocks in it's grasp.

"I got to say one thing, this guy's very versatile!" Pit comments in surprise as he raises his Ore Club up in defense and lets the rock whip lash against it while Cragalanche spins around from the momentum brought on by the weapon's weight. He isn't able to keep his balance and falls onto his side, where his vulnerable point is revealed once more. Pit swings at it once with the club, a resounding blow being dealt in that instance.

Cragalanche then leaps back onto his feet and looks at Pit, but while he was up Riku ran behind him and performed two swift sword slashes on the creature's back to deal more damage. The teenage Overlord then used his strength to perform a hard kick on the Cragalanche's back to knock him directly onto his face. Pit then got an idea and grabbed the Ore Club with both hands, leaping into the air while holding his weapon behind him, waiting until he was high enough above the rock monster to bring the club down hard on his weak spot.

A heavy impact cracks apart a great chunk of Cragalanche's body, and with the Ore Club pressing down on the weak point Pit uses it as a vault pole to end up on the other side of the rock monster's body. Specifically, he lands right beside Riku, saying to him "Nice job!" As Cragalanche weakly raises one hand and then proceeds to explode into a bunch of rocky chunks, and as the saying goes…All of nature's forces and all of nature's men, couldn't put Cragalanche back together again.

Immediately after defeating the rock monster, Pit looks towards the sky with a serious expression on his face as Viridi projects herself before the heroes once more. After Riku turns around to face her she proclaims "Well well, you put on quite a show there. But you should know that the next Reset Bomb, is very nearly complete!" As Viridi places her next ultimatum upon the heroes' consciences, she rests one hand against her chest, but then proceeds to lean forward and mock them by mentioning "Hmm, now where do you think I should drop it this time?"

"Your Reset Bomb will be stopped next time Viridi. I'll see to that myself." Riku firmly tells the goddess of nature, while Pit simultaneously proclaims "You can't do that!" Viridi laughs and leans one hand against her chin like a mischievous child would, replying to Riku's comment as she fades away "Try all you want. My Reset Bombs are invincible!"

With Pit gritting his teeth in annoyance, Palutena summons forth a pillar of light to call him and Riku back to Skyworld, commenting in a semi-worried tone of voice "First Hades and now Viridi? This is getting out of hand, we have to think of a plan, fast!" Before he ends up leaving the Reset Bomb Forest, Riku murmurs out "Viridi, you'll see what I'm capable of soon enough…"

_Next Time: The Three-Way War_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 12: Wrath of the Reset Bomb**

As Palutena has urgently pointed out, the fact that Hades and Viridi have been shown themselves to be threats to humanity's well-being has made the situation far more perilous for Pit and Riku. But right now the biggest threat was Viridi, who threatened to drop another Reset Bomb, likely on another heavily populated town. Pit took some Shock Orbitars with him into battle as he and Riku flew out Palutena's magic door for another mission…

As they soar out into a bright sky filled with floating islands, they are surprised to find a series of Monoeyes and…Nutskis fighting each other? Palutena immediately comments "It seems Viridi and Hades' forces are locked in combat." And Pit asks "Wait what? Why would they be fighting each other?" He then ducks under some crossfire between the two forces.

Taking advantage of this battle between mooks to shoot them down, Pit and Riku fly a little ways through the clouds before Viridi bluntly cuts in and exclaims "Isn't it obvious?!" "You again." Pit replies with a quiet and angered tone in his voice, but Viridi just ignores that and goes on to answer the angel's earlier question with "These brutes have a complete disdain for life! They're even worse than humans!"

Pit and Riku both raised their eyebrows at that particular comment, and then to make things even more interesting Hades' chimes in with "Ho ho ho! You're one to talk, little goddess. At least I give the humans YOU kill peace after death." "Hmm, this communication line is starting to get a little crowded…" Palutena states nonchalantly, afterwards mentioning to Pit and Riku "We have an opportunity here. Let's use this chaos to our advantage."

As the two heroes fly over an island filled with lake water while continuing to shoot down the mooks of the two enemy forces, Pit asks "Ok. What's my target?" "Viridi is planning to drop another Reset Bomb in this area." Palutena begins to explain, and Pit and Riku both glance down to see a heavily populated town on two sides of a river. Pit put on a serious expression as he asks "Is she planning to drop it here?"

"It's very possible Pit, but I wouldn't be certain." Palutena comments with some doubt in his tone, and Pit pumps his fist forward and exclaims "And with Hades' army after them too, the humans don't stand a chance! We have to do something!" "Palutena, if I could offer a suggestion, let me go after the Reset Bomb while you and Pit deal with the Forces of Nature AND the Underworld Army. I'll let you know if I find anything else." Riku comments in an earnest tone of voice.

"Thank you for the offer Riku, but there's no telling if the Reset Bomb has any weaknesses. But I'll be able to find out once Pit gets in close to one." Palutena states, and Pit exclaims in disbelief "Get in close to one?! Isn't that very, VERY risky?!" "You'll be fine. Both of you will, but that's assuming she'll even drop one-" As Palutena is about to show her faith to the two heroes' capabilities, she happens to notice a Reset Bomb plummeting down from the sky above, hidden slightly by the brightness of the sun.

"There's the Reset Bomb!" The goddess exclaims after momentarily pausing, leading to Pit getting his flight speed increased exponentially so he can shoot through the clouds in order to reach the Reset Bomb. Riku keeps up with ease as the young angel states confidently "That bomb won't be resetting anything when I'm done with it!" Entering a thicket of clouds filled with rocky debris, the two heroes finally break Viridi's attention away from her battle with Hades as she comments "What mischief are you three getting into now?"

To run interference on the two heroes' efforts, Viridi summons forth hundreds of Nutskis to get in the way while exclaiming in an authoritative tone "Rise, my children, and pluck these dweebs from the air!" That particular insult made both Pit AND Riku flinch for a moment, with an embarrassed Pit stuttering out of his mouth "D-Dweeb?!" Palutena chuckles and admits without hesitation "I'm sorry, but that's two points for Viridi."

As he shoots at the Nutskis, Pit rubbed his chin in thought with one hand and states not long afterwards as a rebuttal "Yeah well, every dweeb has his day!" Humored by that response, Palutena says to Pit "Make that…three points for Viridi." Riku then glances at Pit and says to him "You got to work on your comebacks Pit. Here, let me show you how it's done."

"Viridi, you may think of us as dweebs, but that just means we've done our research on how to stop your Reset Bombs!" Riku tells off the goddess of nature with a firm and confident tone of voice, and Viridi exclaims "What?! That's not what dweeb means!" "Actually little flower, it does mean that. As much as I hate to say it, one point to Ricky Boy!" Hades' chimes in to prove Viridi wrong, and took great enjoyment in doing so.

The fact that the goddess of nature went silent afterwards showed that she was effectively schooled. Hades then went on to say "Of course, dweeb also means 'boring', and I'd say that describes Ricky Boy just fine!" Riku flinches again, followed by Viridi chiming in to say "I'm giving Hades' two points for that one!" "Why my little goddess, I am honored." Hades' says in an overly chivalrous tone of voice.

"Three points for Viridi, two for Hades and one for Riku…Pit, you really need to step things up or it's going to make you look bad." Palutena says in a very encouraging tone of voice, but the young angel says "I don't even know what type of game we're playing at this point! Ugh, never mind, we need to focus on the Reset Bomb, remember?!" After this the two heroes push past the clouds, where they find themselves very close to the Reset Bomb in the middle of the open sky.

"The Reset Bomb is going to wreak havoc if it reaches the ground!" Pit exclaims while the crimson, root wrapped gigantic seed flies right past him and Riku. "There's NOTHING natural about that." Palutena states the obvious in a light-hearted manner, but a panicking Pit asks while him and Riku dive after the Reset Bomb "How do we stop it?!"

Pit is about to fire at the Reset Bomb with his Orbitars, but a quick warning of "Careful" from Palutena stopped him before he made a foolish move. "The bomb could explode if you just start shooting indiscriminately." The goddess of light then comments after Pit and Riku make it to the underside of the Reset Bomb and find a series of glowing green lights surrounding the base "Oh, I know. Destroy the green targets to remove the crown and expose the core. Then, shoot the core."

Palutena's analysis leads to Pit enthusiastically pumping his fist and stating "Oh! Like a shooter game! I can almost feel the controller in my hands!" Before he can fire at the glowing targets, the air pressure of the Reset Bomb pushes Pit up past the left side of the bomb, forcing Palutena to speed him up to catch back up with it. Riku had already drawn his sword at that point and was slashing blade of wind at the targets to try and take them down.

Once Pit had joined up with him, he puts in his part by firing bolts of electricity from the two Orbitars at separate targets to try and take them out. The targets are surprisingly durable, taking almost a minute before they are finally able to crack them all apart and break open the bottom of the Reset Bomb, where a large glowing core wrapped in between a series of black vines. "Hurry you two, it's almost reached the ground!" Palutena urgently proclaims.

Pit swings both of his arms out and lets out a battle roar as he rapid fires a barrage of bolts from his Orbitars, and Riku increased the size of his wind blades to deal more damage to the core. But for all of their efforts to take down the Reset Bomb, Viridi quickly points out "Hahahaha! I told you! My Reset Bomb is invincible, you can't take it down with just brute force! Now my precious bomb, here's one final push!"

"No!" Pit exclaims as desperation to make the core reach critical mass makes him ignorant to the fact that the Reset Bomb was going to ram into him at the speed it was increasing to, but Riku wasn't ignorant of this and quickly grabbed Pit by his right arm and pulled him out of the way before he was dragged to the ground with the Reset Bomb. "Ah! No!" Pit swung his other arm out as the Reset Bomb started to burn up as it made it's final approach to the ground, and Riku quickly let go and dispelled his sword while turning around to face the Reset Bomb. "Farewell humans! Where is your goddess of light now?!" Viridi took a great deal of joy in the fact that another Reset Bomb was about to go off, and Palutena lamented things with a remark of "We were too slow…"

As Pit could only watch on in horror as the Reset Bomb was about to explode, Riku swung both of his arms down and said nothing as he focused on the energies buried within the bomb, waiting until the very moment that it exploded outward to clench his fists, which suddenly causes the explosion to not expand farther out than the size of the Reset Bomb itself. Inside of the explosion itself trees and the like could barely grow out, all of them crunching together and crumbling apart as Riku manipulates the shards of wood outward to create a gigantic sphere of splinters so none of them would fall upon the human population.

Once the outgrowth of nature stops, the teenage Overlord, who was panting and sweating a bit from the exertion needed to contain the Reset Bomb's explosion, uses his powers of flames to set off a spark within all the wood. He lets the wood burn to ashes, and then throws those ashes to the wind to never be seen again. He then wipes the sweat off of his forehead and glances to the right, where Pit was busy staring at him in complete and utter awe. Palutena had also gone completely silent for a few moments, but then said in a thankful tone of voice "I guess I should have trusted you with the Reset Bomb after all…"

"That. Was. AMAZING! You actually stopped a Reset Bomb explosion on your own, Riku!" Pit was geeking out incredibly over the act the teenage Overlord performed, pumping his fists up excitedly in mid-air before Riku glanced at him and said "We aren't done yet…" He then looks up towards the clouds in the sky while his eyelids sunk from tiredness before pointing upward and saying "I can sense a depot of Reset Bombs up there. We need to take care of it, or Viridi will just try this stunt again."

Pit paused for a moment and nodded his head, followed by him putting on a serious expression and stating "Alright, then lets go! Lady Palutena, send me flying!" "Such enthusiasm. Riku's got you pumped and ready for battle, doesn't he? Brace yourself Pit, we're going up strong!" Palutena fires up the power of flight, sending Pit rocketing straight up through the sky. Riku wiggles his fingers to make sure he can still feel with them, and then surrounds himself with an aura of fire and flies up to join the young angel in his assault on the Reset Bomb factory.

It was at this point that Viridi finally spoke out in response to Riku's actions, but she was left as nothing more than a stuttering mess as she said "I-I…What…How…This….What…HOW?! This seriously can't be happening! No one has ever survived a Reset Bomb, let alone controlled the energies of the explosion! Just what kind of human are you?!" "He's the Elemental Overlord. We told you this from the start Viridi. You seriously couldn't piece two and two together after that?" Palutena says in a taunting tone of voice.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO THAT IS! GAH! I demand an explanation right now!" Viridi was throwing a serious temper tantrum at this humiliating setback against her, and you could even hear her stamping her feet in frustration before Hades chuckled and said to her "Oh little rosebud, you should have been paying attention in Goddess School. The title says it all. He's the ELEMENTAL Overlord. That means he controls every element. And I'm pretty certain your little Reset Bombs aren't made of a neutral type of energy."

"Well he's infringing on my domain then! I'M the goddess of nature here, not him!" Viridi exclaims. "He. Controls. Every. Element. He'd only be 'infringing' if he just controlled nature. Just give it a rest Viridi, you've already lost." Palutena hammers in the inevitability of the goddess of nature's defeat, but as usual Viridi remained defiant and exclaimed with all of her fury "Like heck I have! I still have all of my Reset Bombs and an army of loyal followers even stronger than them! Forces of Nature, I want all of you to grind the Elemental Overlord and Pit into compost! Show no mercy, or the Reset Bomb Depot is lost!"

As Pit and Riku break through the clouds, they find a floating island up in the distance and are swiftly assaulted by laser fire coming from it. Performing evasive maneuvers through the sky to dodge the laser fire, Pit exclaimed triumphantly "Your reign of destruction ends here Viridi!" "I won't let you get away with this! The humans need to be punished!" Viridi exclaims again out of defiance, but then Pit said to her "We get it, you hate humans! But you should at least know that more destruction isn't going to solve anything!"

"You freaking hypocrite! You're a walking munitions depot! And you're carrying around a human who is stronger than my Reset Bombs! If you don't think that's not going to backfire on you, you're crazier than I thought!" Viridi has a rebuttal for Pit's remark, but the young angel thrusts one fist forward and proclaims "Maybe, but we're destroying evil. Deal with it." The lasers start to stop firing down as the two heroes reach the underside of the depot, which has a large crystal at the bottom that the two heroes pass on by while taking down more of the Forces of Nature.

Once they pass the underside, they fly overhead and see just how huge the Reset Bomb Depot is from above. "I'm finding you a landing spot, just hang on!" Palutena exclaims, and Pit and Riku then swoop down past the crystals and gigantic masses of grass before they fly through a tunnel and end up deeper inside of the Depot. With a wide-open series of platforms revealing themselves, Palutena says "Ok, prepare for land battle Pit. We're going to put an end to this now!"

The young angel swoops down alongside Riku, making a very smooth landing on the ground for once in his life. At that point, Pit does a couple thrusts with his fists while Viridi states "Urgh, if only two of my commanders weren't busy with other matters…Oh well. Rise my children! Do everything you can to stop them!" The two heroes then start to run through the platforms of the depot, eventually reaching a machine in the ground with a turret and punching arm, a sleek coating, and no visible legs.

"I have brought a Cherubot for you to pilot, Pit." Palutena says merrily, and the young angel's eyes widen brightly as he jumped into the cockpit of the machine and caused it to activate. It rose up from the ground with newly formed antigravity legs, and a small halo started to glow on it's backside. "Hmph, that hunk of metal is probably not very fuel efficient." Viridi comments, and then Palutena responds nonchalantly with "Actually, it runs on goddess power, which is totally renewable."

Pit and the Cherubot start to glide swiftly along the ground, with the young angel testing out the controls by socking a Nutski in the face with the fist and then raising the cannon arm up and rapid-firing small energy pellets at a swarm of Nutskis. "Alright, everything's running smooth. Woo-hoo!" Pit enthusiastically takes the Cherubot off the side of one of the platforms and onto an open arena, where it seems the Underworld Army has begun their own invasion of the Reset Bomb Depot by taking down members of the Forces of Nature.

"Dang it Hades, get your filthy troops off of MY lawn!" Viridi said, sounding rather tired due to all of the anger she had been exhibiting throughout this mission alone. Hades starts to speak, but his voice is interrupted by the occasional chewing sound "Aw, you're so cute when you're flustered, rosebud." "Wait a minute, are you eating something right now Hades?" Pit asked in a very puzzled tone of voice.

"Oh, I just whipped myself up some Underworld brand popcorn. It's been quite an enjoyable treat thanks to the show Ricky Boy put on for me earlier, and you and little rosebud's banter is just icing on the proverbial cake, Pitty Pat." Hades' says while continuing to chew his food. Pit then feels his stomach grumble and says "…I really want to eat something now." "I'll have some food waiting for you when you get back Pit, just don't lose focus now." Palutena says in a gentle tone of voice, giggling slightly beforehand to show she found merriment in Pit's innocent behavior.

After clearing the Underworld Army and Forces of Natures from the small arena, Pit took the Cherubot through a small pathway, only to be met with the robot's greatest obstacle! …A two foot tall elevation of stone. "Aww bummer, I can't take this with me anymore." Pit laments before he leaps out of the mech and glances at Riku, who still seemed to look a bit tired even after a few minutes have passed since the Reset Bomb incident.

"Hey, you ok?" Pit asked innocently, and the teenage Overlord glanced at him and replied with "Sorry if I'm not doing much, but containing the Reset Bomb took more effort than I expected. Viridi may be an arrogant child, but she still has the power of a goddess and is likely just as strong as Palutena and Medusa, so her Reset Bombs being as strong as they are shouldn't surprise me…" "Oh, so you're too tired to stop another Reset Bomb? Then I guess I can just drop another one right now!" Viridi exclaims arrogantly.

"No!" Pit puts on a worried expression, but the teenage Overlord raises his hand to stop him from reacting further and then counters Viridi's remark by saying to her "Viridi, I can sense the energies of the Reset Bombs ever since the first one went off. You don't have another one made, so your bluff isn't going to scare me." "…You're despicable." The goddess of nature says out of annoyance for Riku's continued defiance.

Once Viridi drops out of the conversation, the teenage Overlord glances at Pit and says to him "She's really desperate to try and get a win on us after I took care of the Reset Bomb. Luckily for us, she can't do anything to scare us off." "Seems like it. Got to admit, if it wasn't for her agenda against humans, I'd kind of feel sorry for her right now." Pit says, leading to Riku gesturing out with his right hand and stating "It's fine to sympathize with your enemy so long as they haven't gone too far."

"Have you ever done that before, Riku?" Pit inquired, and the teenage Overlord shook his head and answered with "Can't say I have. I don't remember ever doing so anyways. There's some real monsters in the universe, Pit. Be glad you just have to deal with a power mad little girl and a flamboyant Lord of the Underworld right now." "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Pit said in an appreciative tone of voice, and the two were then ready to move on.

The Reset Bomb Depot threw many paths in the way of the heroes' progress, but their simplistic nature made it easy to navigate through them and eventually reach another circular area with a single door leading to an elevator that would take the heroes further into the depot. But a couple magic barriers show up to block their progress along with a gigantic stone enemy with tiny seed legs and a little sprout atop it's head being dropped down into the center of this area.

But before the creature can do anything against the heroes, two Skuttlers leap over the stone walls and perform a sneak attack with their bone clubs that knocks the large stone creature onto it's front side with a large thud. The Skuttlers then bombard the weak sprout on the creature with a bunch of club whacks, leading to Viridi proclaiming "You filthy Underworld troops, get off my Boom Stomper!" The seriousness of her remark is lowered by the name of her troop, but Pit doesn't put too much focus on that as he starts to remark "I get why Viridi hates Hades…He's destructive and evil. But why does Hades hate Viridi?"

"You pretty much answered your own question. Destruction is fun for him." Palutena says, and in an impressed tone of voice Hades states "Well well, five points for the squares! It's true. This is just my idea of a good time." He was still chewing on popcorn as he spoke, but then he stopped for a moment in order to point out "Besides, not like these serious goddesses would know anything about having a good time."

"Don't you dare put Lady Palutena in the same category as the goddess of brutality!" Pit exclaims in a very offended tone, and Viridi whispers out "It's goddess of nature…" "Hmm, you think the Lord of the Underworld would be too busy for mischief making." Palutena comments in a nonchalant tone of voice.

"Oh heavens no. Making mischief is one of my chief responsibilities." Hades explains with a hearty chuckle, and by that point the Skuttlers have finished off the Boom Stomper, which takes away the barriers and allows the heroes to continue on after they defeat the Skuttlers. As they go forward, Riku glances at Pit and says to him "What did I say about ignoring Hades?" "It's just that I can't stand him mocking Lady Palutena." Pit replies.

As he and Riku get onto a small elevator and descend further into the depot, Riku tells the young angel "And that's why he's going to keep getting under your skin. I know you're trying to play the role of the knight for your maiden, but if Hades gets far enough under your skin you're going to lose focus and make mistakes." After this bit of advice, the Lord of the Underworld says "I'd listen to Ricky Boy on this one, Pitty Pat. He knows a thing or two about losing control."

"And Pit doesn't need to know anything else besides that." Riku firmly states while closing his eyelids and letting out a slightly annoyed sigh. "Oh of course not, it's not the right time to be divulging such information. We'll return to this subject later, I can assure you that much." After that little tidbit of info for Riku to tide over, Hades leaves again, and Pit glances at the teenage Overlord for a brief moment as the two of them end up at the bottom of the elevator.

"This appears to be the bottom of the fortress…" Palutena comments, and as the two heroes walk off the platform Pit looks around at the natural environment and says "Everything seems to be made out of natural materials." As the young angel glances at the empty branches atop the ceiling Palutena wonders if "Reset Bombs must grow like fruit."

Proudly, Viridi says to them all "ORGANIC fruit." This is immediately followed up by Hades mocking her with "And when it's ripe, it falls off the vine and just organically destroys everything in its path?" "That's not exactly how it goes…" Viridi nonchalantly comments, and Hades prods her further by stating "But I'm in the ballpark, right?"

"Nature dictates that all life must eventually break down. Reset Bombs just create an accelerated version of that process!" Viridi explains, but then Riku tells her bluntly "But isn't an accelerated process in itself unnatural? You can't force plants to grow when they aren't needed, or you threaten to upset the way nature operates." "Who died and made you the expert on nature?! It certainly wasn't me, so you be quiet!" Viridi replies in a frustrated tone of voice.

"…Never mind then." Riku was admittedly starting to feel tired of telling Viridi off, especially since he knew he wouldn't be able to do more than use words against her. After sealing his lips, him and Pit cross through the underground of the Reset Bomb Depot, fighting off a large quantity of the Forces of Nature as the winding platforms and jump pads eventually take the two heroes to the center of the basement, where they eventually find another elevator that would take them back up topside.

"…That was a pretty quiet stretch, does nobody have anything to say at this point?" Pit ponders as he and Riku make it back to the ground floor. "I'm just here to offer support and make the occasional joke, Pit." Palutena replies. "I've mostly been reacting to conversations, not starting them Pit." Riku comments in an apologetic tone of voice. "I'm trying to kill you and the Elemental Overlord, I am not interested in talking with you at any time!" Viridi bluntly exclaims.

"And yet you just did. Then there's the time before this, and the time before that, etc, etc, you get the point." Hades plays around with Viridi's remark, chuckling at the end of it all much to the goddess of nature's frustration before he goes on to say "But in all seriousness, I'm saving my witty repertoire for my next appearance. See you all again in a couple of chapters!" With that rather puzzling remark, Hades' leaves the conversation for now, and Pit and Riku move on through the last stretch of land before they come across another elevator.

This lift takes them through a dark blue abyss before they are deposited in front of a single door that opens the way to the core of the Reset Bomb Depot. After a brief tunnel of darkness, the two heroes are greeted by the illumination coming from a pulsating jeweled purple core attached to the heart of the depot. There was a golden abyss beneath the core that was likely where the Reset Bombs were dropped to. But in order to reach the core, the two heroes would have to deal with the jeweled barrier surrounding it.

"Pit, once you take down the core, this whole place will be finished!" Palutena urges, and Pit confidently exclaims "No problem!" "Oh no you don't! Guards! Wake up and report for duty!" As Viridi exclaims this out, four moss-colored golems wake up from behind the core and immediately leap into action, performing fantastic acrobatic stunts to show off for their 'mother' before they finally land before the young angel and strike a pose for battle.

"Well Pit, I leave this up to you. You deserve this victory over Viridi." Riku says, giving him an approving pass-off gesture with his right hand before he turns around and gets out of the way. Pit then swings one arm out as he glances back and exclaims "Could you stop being so selective on when you're going to help?!" "Pit, focus." Palutena gets the young angel back on track, and he turns just in time to leap back out of the way from a downward punch from one of the golems.

It was a surprisingly powerful punch that cracked the ground as it struck, and Pit retaliated by firing a charge shot from his Shock Orbitars that impacted with the golem and sent him flying back. As the golem skid along the ground on it's back, Pit decided to avoid dealing with the golems since his last shot didn't seem to do anything lasting damage, and immediately rushed past the three others as they tried to attack him from all sides.

Careful dodging and weaving past the attacks allows Pit to get in front of the core, where he holds both of his Orbitars in front of his body and fires a charged shot shaped like a bolt directly at the shell of the core. But the shot is absorbed into the hardened shell, and the young angel flinches in surprise before the golem he knocked down earlier uses his arms to thrust himself forward and kick Pit straight in the gut to stagger him.

With all four golems standing upright, they try to rush Pit at the same time, forcing the young angel to leap into the air to dodge them all, and the head-on collision with their own bodies causes them all to be flung back in four directions. One of the golems ends up being flung into the pit below the core, where the impact with the ground causes the golem to explode in such a powerful manner that the core's shell is temporarily taken off. Pit lands on the ground and begins shooting it rapidly while Viridi proclaims "Hey! Guards! Get back on your feet and take him out! Avenge your fallen brother!" The other three guards rise up and then try to rush Pit again, firing projectiles out of their guns as they make the run so Pit will be too distracted by that to try and jump out of the way again.

But despite all the shots being fired at him, Pit too was rapid-firing plenty of projectiles into the core, which was turning redder with each passing second. Once the golems were close enough, two of them tried to pull Pit to the ground by grabbing hold of his arms while the last one jumped onto his back. The young angel was slowly being weighed down, his concentration being broken by the struggle to keep the golems off of his body.

Unfortunately for the golems, they were a little too late to stop Pit, as the moment they weighed him down was when the last shot necessary to destroy the core was fired out. As an explosion comes from the core, the golems look forward with a brief pause of realization, which gives Pit enough time to throw them off with a single push. He then victoriously swings his arms out as the Reset Bomb Core is blown in half and left as a crystallized jewel in the center of the room.

"Victory is ours!" Pit enthusiastically proclaims, but then the room shakes thanks to another explosion further off in the depot, signifying that the place was about to go down. Riku walks beside the young angel and floats into the air once Palutena activates the power of flight on Pit's wings. The two heroes then head straight for an open, winding corridor to try and outrun the fiery explosion that was trailing behind them, but even with the speed they went they were both thrust right out of the side of the Depot by the might of the explosion.

Pit screams in surprise as his body tumbles right through the air a fair distance away from the Depot, while Riku recovers quickly and turns around to watch as explosions start to consume the Depot, which was dropping from the sky at a rather slow pace. "My depot! That's it, the two of you are officially at the top of my to-kill list!" Viridi exclaims with the righteous fury of a hundred goddesses. As Riku and Pit both get the pillar of light treatment from Palutena, the goddess of light states in a nonchalantly worried tone "Uh-oh. I'd better get you out of there, Pit." As they went though, Riku felt rather pleased with himself…

_Next Time: To the Moon!_

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**

Due to the fact that Smash Wii U and Pokemon ORAS are being released tomorrow, I would like to say right now that you shouldn't be surprised if I don't upload anything three days from now. But I promise not to make a gigantic break out of this, so yeah. Enjoy Smash everyone!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 13: The Lunar Sanctum**

"Again today I will go soaring through the sky! My enemies I will dish them up in-a stir fry! Gracious goddess of light, watches from up above, at dinner time I always show the cook some love!" As Riku and Pit head out of a door to tackle another mission, the young angel merrily sings a tune while carrying an Orb Staff in his right hand. Riku glances at him and finds himself slightly glad to see him in such a great mood.

"What are singing?" Palutena comments in a humored tone of voice. As Pit glides through a night sky filled with bright blue clouds he replies happily "Just this little victory song I made up. We stopped Viridi! Now it's time to take down Hades!" The young angel pumped his fist into the air, but Palutena quickly tells him "Not quite Pit. We still have to contend with her forces. Specifically, Arlon the Serene."

Pit flinches and cuts back on his happiness as he asks "Oh, is he one of her commanders?" "Yes, and he has a weapon so powerful that it makes the Reset Bombs look like firecrackers!" Palutena exclaims with urgency in her voice, and the young angel says in a reassuring and somewhat overconfident tone "Aww, don't worry about that Lady Palutena, Riku can just use his powers to disable it like he did the Reset Bomb."

"Ummm, that's not going to be that easy, Pit. Mind explaining why, Palutena?" Riku says, and the goddess says "Oh, you already figured it out? Anyways, Pit, try taking a look at the moon for me." Pit looks forward past some rings formed by celestial energies and sees the moon glowing bright in the blackness of space and says with a smile "Yeah, it's really pretty tonight."

"And how about that?" Pit is turned to the right as Palutena asks this question, leading to the young angel looking straight at another moon that seems to not be as bright as the other, and Pit comments "Like I said, they're both pret-…Wait a second." He realizes halfway through that two moon is an impossibility, and exclaims "Maybe I missed something, but I'm sure we don't have two moons!"

"It's like the sky is watching you." Palutena comments in a heavenly tone of voice, and Pit nervously comments "I hope they'll stop, I get stage fright easily." The young angel and Riku then start to slowly fly for the false moon, and not long after they begin a large vertical gash of light appears in the center of the "moon", revealing some sort of glimmering eye and a few red warning lights on each side.

"That's no moon!" Pit exclaims in surprise, and Palutena goes on to say in a worried tone "That's Arlon's Lunar Sanctum. Clearly there's more to it than meets the eye." An awe-struck Pit says "Very cool!" But his thoughts would quickly shift to something else as all of a sudden the Lunar Sanctum fires a gigantic beam of energy through the sky straight at the two heroes, forcing them to weave out of the way of it.

The young angel exclaims "And very dangerous!" One laser blast wasn't enough to stop the heroes, so the Lunar Sanctum continued to try and fire more of them out of it's eye, but the two heroes are able to move around fast enough to get by it's immense power. Nets of electricity are also shot out to try and entangle Pit by the wings, making the whole experience rather harrowing as the young angel exclaims "I take it back, this sucks!"

"We're going in, hang on!" Pit's speed is increased heavily so he can make the flight to the Lunar Sanctum while dealing with the least amount of laser fire possible. Riku catches up as well, stating to Pit in the heat of their approach "So anyways, the reason I can't disable the Lunar Sanctum is because despite the moon, more specifically this artificial one, being one giant rock it seems to have it's own aura that prevents me from affecting it."

"A type of aura? Sounds about right, the moon is under the domain of someone of a higher authority than myself, and I doubt they'd want anyone else touching what belongs to them, especially not a human. No offense." Palutena says, and Riku nods his head and mentions "None taken. I figured that Suns and Moons couldn't be affected by my powers, but it's nice to have some sort of confirmation. Anyways, don't worry Pit, the Lunar Sanctum won't threaten us."

"Easy for you to say." Pit comments in a sarcastic tone of voice, and as he and Riku approach the Lunar Sanctum from the front the large laser cannon is shown to look like a rather piercing eye. "Ugh, creepy…Anyways, we're getting closer Lady Palutena!" The young angel proclaims, and with a use of her powers the goddess guides Pit towards the underside of the laser cannon to make things a little easier. However, there are quite a number of other artillery cannons that sends out beams of red and green to deal with the invaders.

Pit is moving around quite often, while Riku prefers to swing his sword around while twirling his body around rapidly to deflect the lasers out of his way. There was a noticeable lack of the Forces of Nature, but it could be determined that Arlon wouldn't want them getting destroyed by the artillery. "This is a lot of fire power!" Palutena exclaims as she forces Pit out of the center of the Lunar Sanctum, and then she says "With all this firepower, Arlon must be planning for a massive attack."

"Why on earth would I be attacking? I'm far too busy…defending, my dear." A subdued and rather posh sounding voice responds to Palutena's remark, and as Pit expresses confusion as usual Palutena comments "You must be Commander Arlon." "Please to make your acquaintance, Lady Palutena. Yours too, young master Pit. And of course, I can't be forgetting the Elemental Overlord. I have heard many tales of all of your exploits from Mistress Viridi, though I can say I was familiar with the Elemental Overlord beforehand."

"Well, that's…weirdly nice of her…" Pit says in a puzzled tone of voice, while Riku says "Wait, YOU knew about me but Viridi didn't? I'm kind of surprised to hear that." Arlon doesn't take offense to this remark as he mentions "I haven't always served the mistress, so it was during that time long ago that I happened to catch wind of the legendary tales. As his successor, I know you are burdened with an incredible duty, but I wish you the best of luck anyways."

"…Umm…Thanks a lot. It's really odd to be complimented by a foe for once…" Riku says with his eyelids blinking in surprise. Afterwards, Arlon proceeds to mention "Either way, onto more important matters. Mistress Viridi has assigned me to guard the Lunar Sanctum. She said I mustn't let your attacks spread chaos HERE of all places. Before you cause a most unnatural harm, let us sit down for a chat."

As the two heroes glide above the rather authentic replication of the moon's surface, they notice some Forces of Nature's enemies preparing to attack them. Palutena suggests "I might consider it if you withdrew your forces…and banded with us to face the Underworld Army together." But politely, Arlon declines by pointing out "Those decisions fall to the will of Mistress Viridi. Unfortunately, it's entirely out of my purview. I do hope you understand."

"What's a purview? And why do you talk like that?" Pit comments in a rather puzzled tone of voice as he and Riku approach the front of the large laser cannon once more and start to fly across the top of it, and in a terrible impersonation of Arlon's voice Pit states "Bad guy are supposed to be more like 'Graaaaaah!' and 'I'm gonna KEEL you!'" Unwavering in his calm demeanor, Arlon specifically responds to this by saying "Ah, the young master is skilled in impressions, I see. Would you care to perform more?"

"Ah…Heheh, that's all I got." Pit embarrassingly comments, leading to a moment where Riku glances at him and says "You should try and be a bit more polite, it's not often you'll come across an enemy that'll actually want to have a decent conversation with you." The angel glances back at him and states "I was just joking around, you know I like to do that."

As Pit is distracted talking to Riku, the two of them end up behind the large laser cannon, but that position doesn't stay that way for long as the cannon flips around and points itself at the two heroes with a full charge at the ready. The young angel looks on in surprise and then flies to the left before he's blasted out of the sky by the ensuing laser. "That was a close one!" Palutena exclaims, and then she goes on to say "I'm taking you out of here!"

Dodging underneath the path of the laser cannon, Riku and Pit fly towards the golden rim of the Lunar Sanctum, heading through an engraved corridor of gold metal as more members of the Forces of Nature come after them in hot pursuit. Riku turns around and dispels his swords, rapidly tossing out fireballs to take down their foes. "If we take down this heavily fortified fortress, it'll help us contain Viridi's Army back on the planet!" Palutena exclaims.

"Yeah! We're making so much progress lately!" Pit enthusiastically cries out, followed by him looking around and noticing a lack of any real resistance at this point. "Ummm, is that all of the enemies for now?" "No Pit, there's more in the area, pay close attention to your surroundings." Palutena says to force awareness from the young angel, and as Riku catches up he draws his sword out again and immediately slashes forward to cut down an invisible enemy, who appears for a brief moment to show that it's a green blob with arms composed of a single sharp blade on each one and a bugling orange eye.

Pit encounters the same enemies a moment later, and his heart skips a beat in surprise as Arlon explains "Let me introduce you to the Flages, the covert-ops specialists for Viridi's army. Do they strike your fancy?" "Umm…NO!" Pit exclaims as he fires at them with his Orb Staff. "Personally, I'm quite fond of them." Arlon says with a hint of pleasure in his voice.

"Right, 'cause I care SO much." Pit says with a tone of sarcasm so thick that Arlon couldn't help but respond with an equal amount as he said quickly "Your concern is noted." Pit slapped his forehead swiftly and said "I WAS BEING SARCASTIC! I don't care at all! Besides, why would Viridi even need a covert-ops unit?!"

As he and Riku headed down a corridor towards the core of the Lunar Sanctum, Pit received an answer in the form of "That would be a question you'd have to ask Mistress Viridi…Hmmm, now that I think about it, I almost forgot something very important." "What now?" Palutena asks in a rather demanding tone of voice. "To close the gates." Arlon said, frustrated with himself for forgetting this rather important detail before he calmly stated "And the gates, go, shut!"

Immediately afterwards the corridor is sealed up by a large bronze mechanical door, but Riku saw this coming and flew forward to cleave the door down with a powerful diagonal slash. The halves of the door are launched forward, causing the remainder of the doors to be broken through without much effort, leaving the way open through the rest of the hall. "…Hmmm, should have seen that coming." Arlon points out in an unsurprised tone of voice.

Riku then gestures forth with both arms so Pit can speed on ahead towards the machinery filled core of the Lunar Sanctum, where only a couple enemies stand between him and the end of this long flight. After taking them down, Pit is moved towards an opening sticking out from one of the walls, and Palutena states as a fair warning "We're going in!" Of course, even with that in mind, the young angel couldn't help but cry out in surprise as he crashes through the glass window and plummets right into the Lunar Sanctum itself.

The teenage Overlord follows behind as usual, traveling through a vent until he winds up catching up with Pit at the very end, who surprisingly made a landing on his feet as he slide out past the last grate. There, the two heroes are surprised to find that the inside of the Lunar Sanctum looks a lot like a beautiful, futuristic city, with an artificial yellow sky formed over the top of the place.

"Oooh, ritzy." Pit says in a tone of utter awe, while Palutena shares a similar sentiment as she says "It's like a whole other world. A classier world."

"Is this your doing Arlon? It's almost like a utopia in here." Riku then asks, and the man humbly answers by saying "I did not work on this alone. Mistress Viridi had quite a hand in designing this place for my particular liking. But nonetheless, I am flattered by your compliments." "Who knew the Lunar Sanctum would be so nice?" Pit says as she stares around the place with his eyes almost glistening.

"I wouldn't mind living here." Palutena admits, and Arlon states with the utmost seriousness "You'd be more than welcome to, if the Lunar Sanctum didn't already have too many guests staying in it." Pit then shakes his head to try and get the thoughts of this beautiful landscape off of his mind, and with a swing of his left hand out he exclaims to the serene commander "No matter how nice this place is, it's not going to stop me from taking you down!"

"Fair enough. You people have no regard for the property's of others…" Arlon bemoans quietly before he leaves the heroes alone for the time being. Pit and Riku start to walk through the Lunar Sanctum, but it wasn't long before it seemed as though the two of them ran into a dead end. "Huh? What's going on here?" Pit inquired. "It seems Arlon has set up some tricks within the Lunar Sanctum. Particularly, he has a penchant for illusions." Palutena replied post-haste.

"A good illusion is always fun to try and solve, wouldn't you say, young master?" Arlon asks, and Pit immediately shakes his head and says "Not at all. Lady Palutena, help me out here!" "Sure thing. Activating the Palutena Super Sensor!" As the goddess of light says this, a glowing green arrow appears in front of Pit's feet, and the wall in front of him and Riku starts to fizzle slightly to show that it's fake.

Riku folds his arms together and states "You don't have a Super Sensor." And Pit glanced at Riku real quick before looking up and saying "Lady Palutena, are you seriously trying to mess with me at a time like this?" "Heheh, of course I am, you know I love to do that." While those two were discussing things, Arlon grumbled in a rather bothered manner before he goes on to mention "Now how did you manage to get those in here…?"

"…Ohh, it seems you've infiltrated the Lunar Sanctum's control core, Palutena." Arlon says after a moment of pause to figure things out. "That leaves me relatively defenseless, I must rectify that posthaste. If you'll excuse me, I must gird my loins for your arrival." After a colorful use of words in his sentence, Arlon is met by a rather disgusted expression from Pit as he exclaims "TMI! Nobody wants to hear about your loins!"

Following Palutena's guidance arrows, the two heroes end up going through all of Arlon's fake walls until they find a wide-open area that will require the use of Palutena's grind rails to traverse. Riku glances to the right and sees the next door they'll be heading through, and with his arms folded he comments "I'll see you on the other side Pit, don't get finished while I'm gone." The teenage Overlord then takes flight and goes straight for the door, while Pit comments in a surprised tone of voice "Hey wait! Take me with you!"

"Pit, you need the experience. Besides, it doesn't seem like this will take you very long." Palutena comments as she sets up a grind rail before the young angel, and after holding his Orb Staff out to the side and kicking his right leg back he says "Yeah I guess so…Really wish Riku could make up his mind on when he'd make things easier for us." "He's not a Super Guide Pit, you can't just have him solve the mission for you." Palutena comments in a humored tone of voice.

After the young angel sighs, he jumps on the grind rail and prepares to traverse this next part of the Lunar Sanctum. Meanwhile, Riku lands on the area before the door where Pit will eventually end up, where he takes out the Forces of Nature that had gathered there and past the door, ironically making things easier for the young angel after the earlier comment he made. Once he dealt with the enemies with ease, Arlon spoke to him in his usual pleasant tone "Young Overlord, if I may be so kind as to speak to you for a moment."

Riku glances up with a stoic expression and says "What do you wish to talk about, Commander Arlon?" "It regards the matter of the young master Pit and yourself. I can tell just by looking that you are a man of honor, so there's something I wish for you to do. Soon the young master will be facing someone, and I'd appreciate it if you just let them fight without your interference." Arlon says, using the utmost politeness as he made this request.

"I was planning on doing that anyways. I already know who you got to fight Pit, after all, what better way to deal with a foe than to hire their equal?" Riku says, and Arlon is quiet for a moment before he says in a complimenting tone "An astute observation. Of course, I know the young master's other half would be know match for you, so as hard as that might be, I will have to take care of you myself."

"…Personally, I'm not going to fight you if Pit ends up falling here. Instead, I'll be taking the fight straight to Viridi. She can't hide from me, and you know that." Riku says in a rather cold tone of voice, and Arlon knew that he spoke the truth. "Then all commanders will converge to assist our Mistress. Make your decisions wisely, Elemental Overlord." He spoke rather firmly as a warning, and by the time that conversation ended Pit had arrived off of the grind rail looking perfectly fine.

"See? You handled things just fine. Now let's continue on." Riku says nonchalantly before he turns around and starts to head for the door behind him, with Pit blinking a couple times in confusion before he follows close behind. After a couple rooms inside one of the Sanctum's buildings, the two heroes find themselves before another place that seems to have no path to continue onward along with a mirror at the end.

"Now what?" Pit asks as he looks back and forth for a way out that he might be missing. "Try looking at the mirror, Pit." Riku suggests with a light gesture of his hand forward. The young angel does so, and finds that there is a gap in the right wall through the mirror's reflection. "Huh, imagine that." Pit said in a tone of intrigue, and with this information in mind the young angel is able to solve the next few rooms, which included a switch puzzle and traversing a small path over a gigantic pit.

At the very end of that path, there was a red cybernetic door that seemed to lead to something of great importance. Pit went running through that door as it slides open via his presence, and in this glowing crimson room was two things. One was the pristine light-blue control core of the Lunar Sanctum, and the other was Dark Pit, who confidently smirked upon noticing his other half appearing. He spread his wings out and reached for a weapon on the back of his body, while Pit swings his arm out and exclaims "Pittoo!"

"Seriously, that is the last time I want to hear 'Pittoo!'" Dark Pit proclaims as he draws out a staff of his own design and swings it out beside him while appearing ready to defend the core. Dark Pit then notices Riku and flinches in pain for a moment, followed by the teenage Overlord walking off to the side while stating "Don't mind me, I won't be doing anything to stop you Dark Pit." The black angel subtly sighs in relief and then focuses back on his other self, followed by the two beginning to fight each other with long range shots.

Meanwhile, Palutena and Arlon get into a conversation as the goddess comments "Let me guess, you invited Pittoo here." "I most certainly did." Arlon doesn't hide his involvement in the matter, but Palutena finds herself asking "He's not usually one to follow orders. How did you persuade him?"

"It was quite simple, actually. Just the mention of young master Pit's presence…was enough to send his twin running here." Arlon says, putting emphasis on Dark Pit's aggressive nature as he does so. "Pittoo just isn't happy unless he's fighting someone." Palutena laments, perhaps out of pity for the black angel's nature. "You say that like it's a bad thing!" Dark Pit comments as he attacks his other half with a heavy swing of his own staff, only for the attack to be blocked.

"You stay out of this!" Pit comments as he is pushed back along the ground by his other half's attack. The young angel then fires a large orb at Dark Pit, though he rolls to the left to get out of the way of it before firing a charged shot that comes out in the form of a thick purple laser. Pit is hit by this attack and sent flying onto his backside in a matter of seconds. The young angel then has to roll to avoid another couple of shots, and once back on his feet he runs to the right to try and get into a better position for attacking.

"Like my new staff? I made it myself." Dark Pit comments in an arrogant tone of voice as he aims it at his other half and fires another charged shot. As Pit ducks under it he says in a tone that combines excitement and anger "It looks amazing! I want it for myself!" Dark Pit scowls and says "Not gonna happen, it's mine and mine alone."

"But we're the same person, so technically everything that's yours is also mine." Pit tries to use logic against his other half, but despite initially showing annoyance Dark Pit states "I can get behind that. I'll give you my Dark Pit Staff…If you give me the Three Sacred Treasures." "No deal! Nope, not happening, forget about it!" Palutena exclaims right away in a very defensive tone of voice.

"But Lady Palutena, the Three Sacred Treasures aren't even that go-" "Pit, it's not happening, just forget about it already!" Palutena cuts off Pit's attempt to try and convince her to go through with the deal, and the young angel sighs and asks "…Can you at least make me a Pittoo Staff when I get back to Skyworld?"

"Don't you even think about it!" Dark Pit exclaims in frustration, and during this time he's shot in the face with a charged shot from Pit while he was distracted. This is followed by Palutena saying "Oh I guess I could try and make it myself." She sounded rather humored by this idea, and Dark Pit can only groan as he gets back onto his feet ready to continue the battle. But as he stood there he failed to notice that the Lunar Sanctum's core was turning redder with each passing second. His lack of paying attention ends up costing him as the core explodes directly behind him, sending him flying across the room and into a wall behind the now ducking Pit, where the collision ends up putting in some decent sized cracks around where he ended up.

On the other side of the room, Riku can be seen with his left hand held up and smoke coming out from it. Dryly, he says "Whoops, looks like while I took out the core I managed to defeat Dark Pit as well. Sorry Arlon, seems I got in the way by accident." The serene commander then remarks in a rather impressed tone of voice "…What a clever tactic. It seems I am to blame for not factoring in such a move."

As Dark Pit is peeled away from the wall and lands on his back, Pit taps his Orb Staff against his shoulder and says "Well, I guess now would be the best time to go for it…" He then steadily approaches his other half, kneeling down partway so he can try and reach for the Dark Pit Staff. But before he is successful in swiping it, Dark Pit clasps onto it tightly and quickly rises to his feet, though his body looked pretty battered after suffering through the aftermath of the explosion.

"…I really, REALLY hate the Elemental Overlord." Dark Pit says as he places one hand on his chest. "Hey, are you ok Pittoo?" Pit asks sympathetically, and his other half groans in pain and states in a disgusted tone of voice "You just have to rub it in…Don't you? I'll be back, just you wait and see…" Dark Pit then kicks off from the ground and breaks right through the ceiling, escaping out of the Lunar Sanctum with his flight before Pit can say anything else cheesy to him.

"Pittoo…" Pit said quietly to himself before he turns to the right and notices that there was an elevator lift that would allow him and Riku to continue onward. As the teenage Overlord meets up with Pit, Arlon proceeded to mention "Hmph, so I guess I am the last line of defense protecting the Lunar Sanctum. A heavy burden has been placed upon me, but I will not falter. Continue onward, young masters."

Pit and Riku thus went for the elevator and rose up to another part of the Lunar Sanctum, which took them to an area where the atmosphere was filled with glistening stars amidst a pitch black expanse and the ground was spread out to perfectly replicated the surface of the moon. "This is sooo cool! It's like I'm on the surface of the moon!" Pit exclaims in a very excited tone of voice as he tests the gravity to see if he could jump higher. Sadly, it seems Arlon didn't replicate that part of the moon when he had the Lunar Sanctum built.

Riku watched Pit's antics for a few moments before he looks around and admits in a somewhat distressed tone "You know, I can't say I've ever been to any moon so far in my travels. I have the power to visit any celestial body in the universe, and I've never touched down on the moon…" "Is it something you've always wanted to do?" Palutena inquires, and the teenage Overlord says in response "The moon is really interesting. There's just something naturally alluring about it. If the real moon is anything like this imitation, then I have something to look forward to later down the road."

"…Since we're on the subject of the Lunar Sanctum, just why was it built, Arlon?" Palutena inquires, and the man immediately replies "That information is highly confidential." "That just makes me more curious." Palutena naturally responds. "Regardless of your views, I have taken an oath of silence, and I intend to uphold it." Arlon states in a very firm tone of voice.

"Now now, no need to get all bent out of shape. You ARE Arlon the Serene, after all." Pit states, and Arlon dryly states "Yes yes, I'm quite aware of that. Anyways, while I cannot say just WHY the Lunar Sanctum is built, I can tell you that it runs off of my powers. Without me, it's just a husk, an empty shell, an orbiting house of cards." Palutena then says "You aren't telling us the whole story here."

"You are in no position to demand explanations. I am beholden only to Mistress Viridi, and you three are thorns in her side." Arlon firmly defends his right to not reveal any information to the group, but at this point Riku interjects and says in response "Arlon, this really isn't the time to be avoiding the topic." "Riku, have you figured something out?" Palutena asks.

"'Far too busy defending', 'houses too many people already', 'built for a specific purpose'…I already know what you are doing here Arlon. You are keeping something powerful held prisoner within the Lunar Sanctum." Riku states while putting on a very serious expression. "…How dare you. You actually pieced that together." Arlon states in a frustrated tone of voice, and Palutena quickly commented "Wait a second, there's a prisoner in this place?"

"Yes. Honestly, it would be in our best interest to not shut off the Lunar Sanctum." Riku says, relaxing upon noticing that he might be able to do something important to change the future of this world. "Hmm, the Forces of Nature are holding someone prisoner…If we break them free, they'd be a perfect ally against Viridi, and perhaps even Hades as well." Palutena then made a remark that immediately caused Riku to flinch in shock.

"I would advise against that." Arlon stated calmly, and Pit blurted out "Of course you would! You're the warden of this prison!" "Pit, Palutena, after I've dealt with the Reset Bomb and fought alongside you may other times beforehand, are you seriously not going to listen to me on this one. Do NOT disable the Lunar Sanctum. We can capture Arlon if you are so worried about him getting in the way." Riku firmly held true to his views on this matter, and begged deep down for the goddess of light to listen.

"No Riku, we're going to free this prisoner from the Forces of Nature's grasp and have him fight for us against Viridi and Hades." Palutena's last remark made the teenage Overlord widen his eyes in utter disbelief for but a brief moment, and Arlon went on to say "…Then if you wish to make such a mistake, I will be waiting for you." Riku clenched his right hand tightly and thought to himself _"Fine Palutena, if you aren't going to listen to me, then I'll just deal with the prisoner myself once we've broken the Lunar Sanctum."_

Riku and Pit then continue through the rest of the Lunar Sanctum. There's no more talking between the moon and the rest of obstacles, with the teenage Overlord keeping a rather serious expression on his face as he helps Pit take down the Forces of Nature. After a good ten minutes of wandering around, the two make it to Arlon's chamber at the very center of the Lunar Sanctum. Inside they find the tall, purple skinned man floating with crossed legs in the center of the room. A light is cast down upon him alone, revealing the pure black servant's outfit and dashing long white mustache underneath his nose.

The man adjusts one of his white gloves as he slowly moves his legs to the ground, positioning himself in such a way that he is able to go straight into an honorable bow while saying "Welcome. Please make yourself comfortable. It was my great honor to represent Mistress Viridi…" Starting off polite in tone, Arlon's voice becomes rather serious as he lifts his head up as he finishes his sentence with "…and the Forces of Nature" while his monocle-less right eye glows bright red for a brief moment.

Pit immediately holds his Orb Staff up and fires multiple shots at the man, but with grace he glides to the right above the floor to keep out of the way of Pit's attacks. Once he was a fair distance away he swiped at the ground with a descending swing of his right hand, sending forth a ring of blue fire along the floor towards Pit. The young angel leaps over it with a forward dodge and then lands at the center of the room, where Arlon is there to greet him with a swift kick to the forehead that sends him flying back to where he originally started.

The young anger groans as his head throbs, and as he tries to regain his vision he looks up and notices Riku standing there without weapon drawn, which he immediately questions him on once he is back on his feet. "Riku, we need to take down Arlon together! What are you doing standing around?" As Pit asks this question he swings his head to the left to avoid a few beams that Arlon flung his way from above his shoulders.

"I'm not going to take part in this battle, Pit. If you want to release a prisoner you know nothing about, then you and Palutena can suffer the consequences." Riku was rather harsh in his response, which was something that took the other two heroes off-guard entirely. "You seem to know a lot about this prisoner with the way you are talking Riku. And yet you aren't going to tell us anything?" Palutena starts sounding suspicious of the teenage Overlord's behavior as she calls him out on the matter at hand.

"If we don't defeat Arlon, you won't even have to worry about the prisoner in the first place." Riku replies in a very firm tone of voice. "That's not good enough for me Riku. Arlon is a member of the Forces of Nature. Regardless of his kindness, he's got a super-powerful base in the form of the Lunar Sanctum and a strong obedience towards Viridi. If we don't stop him now, there's nothing preventing Viridi from having Arlon attack the humans with the Lunar Sanctum. Give me one good reason why we should listen to you about the prisoner."

"_I could give you plenty of reasons why Palutena, but you have a valid point…The Lunar Sanctum is still a threat to the world…I have no choice, I have to keep focused and deal with that creature myself. Forgive me Arlon, you are an honorable man, but this is how things have to go…" _After sorting out his thoughts, Riku starts to charge up to his full power while summoning forth his sword with blade bathed in fire.

He doesn't say anything to Palutena, letting his actions do the talking for him as he glances at Arlon, with the innards of the Lunar Sanctum beginning to quake with how much pressure Riku was applying with the strength of his aura alone. The serene commander glanced forth at the boy, but saw him for only a second before a gash of red cutting right through the center of his body, with the teenage Overlord appearing behind him just a mere moment later.

Riku took great care to inflict heavy physical damage with his fire without cutting open the skin on Arlon's body, which worked to great effect as the serene commander quickly drops to his knees while clenching his gut in pain. Riku drops his power level back to normal levels and the tremors briefly cease within the Lunar Sanctum as he dispels his sword. Pit says in a surprised tone of voice "I-It's over already?"

Arlon glances back at Riku and says to him "So you chose this path after all…For all of our sakes, I hope you know what you are doing…" "Trust me Arlon, I won't let chaos spread across this world." Riku says in response, and with a brief smile cracked the serene commander collapses onto the ground all the way. It was then that the Lunar Sanctum started to break apart just as Arlon described, with the tremors increasing to the point that Palutena knew that it wasn't safe to keep Pit around any longer.

But with the Lunar Sanctum blocking her teleportation magic, Palutena had to briefly reactivate the power of flight to take Pit out of the Lunar Sanctum the moment a gap opened up to the outside. Riku followed quickly behind, while Arlon is left to recover from his wounds in the sanctity of his crumbling chamber. Once the two heroes were outside the Lunar Sanctum and got a fair distance away, they turned around to see that it was already splitting apart into multiple pieces, with the laser cannon disabled as both halves of the sanctum separate in different directions.

But after a few seconds, something bright green breaks through the right surface of the Sanctum, it's light dropping to revealed a rather bizarre looking bug with multiple legs and a discernable hooked tailed. "A bug? That's what the Lunar Sanctum was holding? How can that be a threat to the Forces of Nature?" Pit comments in a puzzled tone of voice, while unbeknownst to him Riku had drawn his sword again and was just seconds away from flying straight at the creature.

Something happens though that Riku would never forget for the rest of his life. Palutena, while summoning forth a pillar of light to take Pit and Riku away from this area, says to them "It seems a bit odd, but a bug is a bug. With it's penchant for eating plants, I can see why Viridi disliked it. Oh well, that thing can bother her for a while, and we'll keep putting the pressure on the rest of her forces."

Riku scowled his teeth as he realizes that he cannot break through Palutena's light, and it would be far too late for him to change forms and break through. As he saw the bug zip on by towards the planet, Riku noticed that it briefly glanced at him and Pit, and before he's taken away back to Skyworld he proclaims in a moment of anger "Palutena, you idiot!" Pit heard this comment and glanced at Riku in surprise before they are both taken away. One last thing that Riku could note is that despite knowing that the bug was a creature of darkness, he for some reason could not sense it despite it being right in front of him…

_Next Time: Lightning, Death, More Lightning!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 14: Lightning Battle**

After everything that happened with the Lunar Sanctum, there was a one day break before Palutena sent Riku and Pit out on another mission. During that time, Riku and Palutena did not share a word with each other, and the young angel was still wondering what was up with that bug that escaped the Lunar Sanctum. Even though Riku seemed to know the answer to that question, he didn't answer any of Pit's question, and the young angel eventually just stopped bothering.

Using some of the remains of the Lunar Sanctum, Palutena crafted a pair of Orbitars that looked like the front of the outer part but in the form of a couple golden disks with a slit of black in the center of them. The teenage Overlord then finally responded to the goddess of light's words as she mentioned that the stakes were being raised in the battle between the Underworld Army and the Forces of Nature, and they needed to get involved right away.

So thus a magic door is summoned forth for the two heroes to go through, but it really said something about how dangerous things were on the battlefield when the first thing that happens is that a bolt of lightning quickly flies through the door and forces Riku and Pit to leap out of the way as the area they left behind is consumed in a blaze of fire. They leap out into a sky filled with chaotic tornadoes and a sunset lit atmosphere that reflects light off of the pale purple clouds.

"Is the door busted?" Pit asks in a tone of concern as he looks back and sees the door consumed by fire, but Palutena gets him right back on track as she says "You need not worry about that right now Pit, we got bigger fish to fry. Hades has rejoined the fray." Pit turns around just in time to notice a heavy swarm of both Monoeyes and Nutskis killing each other in the distance, with some of them splitting up to attack the two heroes.

As Pit and Riku fly through the skies, more tornadoes twist through the air in an arch while Palutena exclaims "We got both Hades' and Viridi's forces wreaking havoc on the land! And thanks to our efforts, they are out of for blood, each other's AND yours." The urgency of her explanation is quickly followed by her explaining "On Hades' side, he has put Thanatos back into play as commander of his army."

"Thanatos?! He's still alive?!" Pit is just as surprised as Palutena to hear this, but as Riku quickly explains "It would be foolish not to bring back the god of death, especially considering what Hades wants." "Anyways, leading the Forces of Nature is Phosphora." Palutena finishes off her brief explanation of the situation with the mention of a new face on the field of battle, which leads to the young angel tilting his head and asking who said person was by saying her name with a puzzled tilt of his head.

After he does this, he notices a few Underworld Army soldiers in front of him and prepares to fire at them with his Lunar Orbitars. But before that can happen the hairs on his arms rise up and a bolt of lightning suddenly flies by above him, zipping back and forth through the air to take down the Underworld Army with ease as a teasing, lofty, feminine voice calls out to Pit by saying "Yes? You called?"

The bolt of lightning is then revealed to be where the voice came from, as the person inside of it briefly appears before Pit and Riku, showing herself to be a teenage girl with wing-like blonde hair with orange-ish tips, a flowing blue scarf around her neck, and a sleeveless white "shirt" and short shorts that shows off most of her midriff and legs, though the legs are at least covered by the grey stockings that go up to her kneecaps to compensate.

As the girl grins playfully and summons forth a shield of electricity around her, Pit swings his arms out and exclaims "So you're leading the Forces of Nature!" But before Phosphora can reply Thanatos suddenly appears from the side of the young angel's point of view, forcing Phosphora away as he charges through the air surrounded by the form of a glowing-green dragon of Underworld flames. "We're in the middle of something now! Can this wait?!" Thanatos exclaims in his usually flamboyant tone of voice, showing that a brief death hasn't robbed him of his energy.

Pit glances on in confusion as Phosphora and Thanatos slam into each other repeatedly a fair distance away, cutting up their impacts with a few dodges every now and then. The young angel comments "So…Thanatos was revived as a glow-worm?" "I think the proper term would be…glow-dragon." Palutena comments in a humored tone mere seconds before the two enemy commanders crash into each other with all of their might, which sends forth a gigantic domed shockwave of black energy across the battlefield.

Pit's hair is pushed back as the bottom of the shockwave also creates a hole through the clouds, where Thanatos and Phosphora drop down through to continue their battle. Once the young angel gets a hold of himself he exclaims "This is really intense!" In a rather frightened tone of voice, and Palutena mentions to him in an attempt to reassure him "It's an all-out war between both forces with us caught in the middle! I'm ready to pull you out of there if things get out of control."

"Pit and I will handle things just fine. Or do you not want to believe what I have to say yet again, Palutena?" Riku says, speaking stoically despite his word choices suggesting that he was holding some contempt towards the goddess of light at the moment. The teenage Overlord then dives through the clouds opened up by the earlier shockwave with Pit following close behind, a few moments of awkward silence being shared between the group before the young angel rubs the back of his head and says "I-I can't believe Thanatos is still alive."

"…And quite perky by the looks of things." Palutena mentions after a moment of hesitation due to what Riku said to her. "Heh, that's only fair. I've been finished off a few times myself." Pit mentions in a somewhat embarrassed tone of voice as he and Riku begin to fly between a few floating islands, where they briefly see Thanatos and Phosphora flying straight through the center of the islands, splitting them apart as they move on to another part of the sky.

"Hmmm…Thanatos, Pandora, Hewdraw…Hades revived them all from the old days. It must have taken quite a lot of work to bring them back." Palutena starts to contemplate the purpose behind Hades' madness, while Pit finds himself briefly running across some of the broken rocks of the former island while shooting down Underworld forces, where he only gets a moment to quickly proclaim in disbelief "But this is Thanatos' third time around!"

As he and Riku leave that broken island behind, Pit then receives an unintended response to his "question" from none other than the Lord of the Underworld himself, who hijacks Palutena's connection once more in order to say in a not-very subtle tone of voice "Thanatos is a bit of a…special case." "No arguments here." Pit replies in a rather blunt tone of sarcasm, which is then followed up by Hades mentioning "That's not what I meant, Pitty Pat. Need I remind you that Thanatos IS the god of death?"

"Told you." Riku commented during the brief pause Hades took between that sentence and his next one. "So naturally, he gets perks like evil powers and health insurance. And free soda." As he says this, Thanatos splits another island in two by colliding straight into Phosphora's lightning shield, causing Pit to briefly question why he can't do anything like that. "Resurrection from the dead? That's some health insurance!" Palutena comments dryly moments later.

"Well I must admit, I was mostly inspired by your insurance plan, pretty Palutena. Except in my case I can bring a person back even if their body is completely gone. Does that not make you jealous?" Hades says slyly, and Palutena replies rather nonchalantly "Not really, no." "Oh, I wasn't talking to YOU when I said that last sentence. Hint hint, nudge nudge." As odd as it felt, Riku could tell that Hades was pointing a finger at him while he spoke, and it bothered him to no end.

He was so bothered by it, in fact, that he actually fails to keep an eye on Thanatos' whereabouts and gets smacked aside a few feet as the god of the dead zips through the air to avoid Phosphora's attempts to zap him with lightning bolts. Once Riku recovers, he swings his sword out to send a wave of flame at Thanatos in retaliation, but without even being aware he was being fired at Thantos swerves past the attack and slams Phosphora into the side of another island. "I got to admit, Thanatos has gotten pretty fast…Must be all that free soda." Pit remarks while witnessing that powerful battle unfold.

"Lovely little Phosphora's no slouch in the fighting department, either." Hades' says in a mildly impressed tone of voice as he sees the girl of lightning kicks Thanatos out of her way with enough force to send a thunderclap echoing through the sky. "Ugh, will you stop trying to butter us ladies up? It's really gross." Palutena remarks, which is then followed by yet another person joining in on the conversation. "There's nothing wrong with compliments." Not surprisingly, it was Viridi speaking.

"Viridi! …Where did you come from?" Pit asks, referring to her absence throughout this battle so far. The goddess of nature completely ignores this and remarks "But Commander Phosphora must also be respected for her power!" "Anyways you two, just keep on Thanatos and Phosphora. It's a good thing they are fighting each other like this, at this rate they may wear themselves out. I mean, who knows? You may also have to end up fighting them both at the same time." Palutena says in a somewhat concerned tone of voice towards Pit.

"Well, we all know how THAT would end." Viridi says in a haughty tone of voice, which is then followed up by Riku dryly remarking "With both Phosphora and Thanatos completely defeated and you getting humiliated once more due to your inability to know when to quit?" The goddess of nature is silent for a few seconds, followed by her saying in a rather blunt tone "…Quiet you."

"He does have a point though." Hades says after a momentary laugh, even though that meant showing how little faith he had in Thanatos' capabilities. As Pit and Riku pass through the maelstrom of broken islands in the sky, they reach the bright open sky once more, where it seems as though Phosphora has managed to land quite a good few hits on Thanatos' form, since the flames surrounding him were slowly starting to fade away.

"Thanypoo, are you ok?" Hades' asked in the most forced tone of concern you could ever imagine, and Thanatos replies in the most upfront, freaked-out tone possibly "Oh, yes! I'm just peachy!" "He doesn't seem to be doing too well…" Palutena commented a moment later as Pit and Riku continue to observe Thanatos and Phosphora fight.

"That's because Phosphora combines the depeachifying power and speed of lightning!" Viridi brags, and the girl of lightning would soon prove her words to be no mere hyperbole as with one final thrust through Thanatos' glowing form Phosphora proclaims the words "Finishing blow!" and an explosion similar to the one that occurred when the god of death was finished off the last time occurs. The glowing-dragon surrounding his body begins to fade away as he says in a lamenting tone "Aaah! Farewell cryyyyy!" And as the dragon leaves forever, Thanatos' final fate was to fall out of the sky…

Or so everyone thought. In a surprising move no one could have seen coming, suddenly a pillar of clear light shoots down from the sky and surrounded Thanatos, holding him in place as everyone lets out a puzzled "What?!" Including Hades, who everyone but him thought was responsible for this phenomenon. In mere seconds, Thanatos is crystallized from the feet upward, and his body is teleported out of the area without so much as a remark from the thing responsible for this action.

There is a period of rather confused silence from all parties involved until Hades chimes in and says "Ok, I'm pretty sure this wasn't in the script…Oh well! Sometimes stuff like this happens, and you have to take the lemons with the oranges." Hades' nonchalant return to his goofy demeanor didn't surprise anyone, but Pit immediately inquired "Lady Palutena, what was that strange light?" "I honestly have no idea! Whatever it was, it came from off the planet. All I know is that at the very least, Hades' won't be bringing Thanatos back into the fray." Palutena's remark was enough for the young angel to swallow, and made him let out a sigh of relief in the process.

Riku, however, felt something rather ominous about what happened with Thanatos, as though him being taken away was a precursor to something terrible. His focus on that matter is quickly broken away as Hades' nonchalantly proclaims to everyone else "Whatever. We'll just keep fighting without someone out there giving orders." He then snaps his fingers and sends some Monoeyes at Pit for the heck of it, and as they are taken down Palutena remarks "Are you saying it makes no difference whether your troops have a leader?"

"They're all idiots. Seriously. I don't even know if any of them have actual brains." Hades bluntly insults his troops, though as he points out such remarks don't matter to them in the slightest. After that little conversation, Pit ends up looking around and finding that Phosphora has vanished from sight after defeating Thanatos. "It seems as though Phosphora went to recharge after her battle." Palutena says, reading Pit's mind regarding his concerns before making her response clear to him.

"Now's your chance. You should both take her down before she fully recovers." Palutena enthusiastically insists, and as Pit pumps his fist into he lets out a single "Yeah!" out of joy. "We may not have the best dental plan, but justice is on our side!" This remark from the goddess of light causes Riku to roll his eyes out of annoyance, especially with what Palutena denied him from doing after the Lunar Sanctum. "Let's go show them what we're made of!" Pit exclaims excitedly to continue the positive feelings him and Palutena were having at that moment.

A few seconds later, the two heroes come across a large swirling mass of storm clouds with the occasional bolts of lightning surging throughout the edge, where Palutena comments "Phosphora's somewhere in the center of these clouds." "Persistent, aren't we?!" Phosphora proclaims mentally from within, showing heavy amounts of annoyance in her tone of voice. After a bit of gliding around the edge of this mass of clouds, the goddess of light says to the two heroes "I'm going to open the way inside. Get ready to go!"

Then, just like that, a hole is ripped right through the center of the storm clouds that Pit is sent flying straight into a moment later with Riku close behind. Lightning struck out from the walls of this tunnel, but Riku deflected all of them away with quick waves of his hands before they could even get close to Pit. "You're definitely getting close to Phosphora." Palutena remarked, with Phosphora whistling playfully and stating "Nope, there's no one here." "We can totally hear you!" Pit remarked in disbelief towards Phosphora's attempt at deception.

It didn't take long for the bright light at the end of the tunnel to show up, and happily Palutena said "You're almost there! Three…two…one…you're out!" She counted down to the moment when the two heroes pushed through the wall of storm clouds and ended up inside of a surprisingly clear expanse of sky where the sun was bright and everything above them was blue. In the center of this area was a broken down stone temple floating in place by itself.

"That's the Thunder Cloud Temple. It's been abandoned since ancient times." Palutena exposits, followed by Phosphora cutting in and saying in a bummed out tone "Aw, here already? I didn't even get a chance to take a shower." "Too bad!" Pit bluntly tells her. As the two heroes start to approach the Thunder Cloud Temple, a blue light sparkles at the top of the centermost tower, and it's only a few seconds later that a bolt of lighting sweeps through the sky and forces Pit to duck to avoid being electrocuted.

"Whoa!" He proclaims, while Palutena remarks "Guess she's not completely spent…" "Ugh, it's just one fight after another. Today is not my day. The fortune Mistress Viridi read me didn't paint a very good picture either." Phosphora bemoans her lack of good luck in today's endeavors, but Pit just raises an eyebrow while barely dodging the lightning streams Phosphora sends his way. He then proceeds to mention "Huh? Viridi does fortunes?"

"I wonder what other services she offers." Palutena says in a tone of both intrigue and surprise, and after shaking his head Pit focused tightly on the temple and states "Anyways, now it's really on!" "Looking forward to it!" Phosphora says with a heavy amount of spunk in her voice, and after dodging two more of her lightning streams Pit and Riku descend upon the entrance of the Thunder Cloud Temple ready for battle.

"Careful of the walls Pit, they are all electrified. We wouldn't want you coming home looking like a fried angel." Palutena says, humored by her own words as Pit nervously says "Y-Yeah, I don't think anyone would want that." "…Hmm…" Riku mumbles to himself while keeping his sword drawn and cautiously looking around him.

The two heroes then begin to move through the temple, which appears to combine the beauties of a naturally decayed ruins with bits of technology via it's electric covered walls and sliding metallic doors. Though as to be expected, this technology could only run if someone like Phosphora was keeping the place powered up, which made it different than the rest of the gods' technology in other places Pit and Riku had been to.

After a couple elevator lifts and the destruction of a small electric reactor, the two heroes end up seeing a heavily armored train car slowly moving across the floor along a trail of pink lights. "What's a train car doing here?" Pit inquires as he watches it pass by him. "There's something inside of it. Break it open, and I'll move its contents near the exit for you to grab." Palutena explains, and with the thought of finding treasure putting a glimmer in his eyes Pit immediately starts to fire shots at the train car to break it apart.

Meanwhile, Riku raises an eyebrow and asks "How do you even know what a train car is? …You know what, I don't think I want to know." By the point the teenage Overlord shakes off his concerns, Pit has already broken the train car and caused a silver panel to appear in front of the nearby door. As the young angel picks it up so Palutena can make use of it later, Phosphora nonchalantly chimes in by saying "Go right ahead and take it."

"You aren't going to put up a fight?" Pit said in confusion, and the girl replies with lofty bluntness "Why should I care? Not my place, not my treasures." "So you're basically squatting in this abandoned temple. Dignified." Palutena says as a means of taunting the lightning girl, but Phosphora replies in a rather relaxed manner "Not squatting. Repurposing. Besides, I'll be out of here before too long."

"Why's that?" Pit inquires, and Viridi chimes in at that point to state "Because the free-spirited Phosphora isn't one to put down roots…Like a hobo. Anyways, I've been busy with the Underworld Army, so I've asked her to defeat you." "I'd like to see her try!" Pit exclaims with confidence in his voice, and Phosphora chuckles and says in an alluring tone of voice "Aw, what bluster. What bravado. I guess I can't back down now."

"…Viridi, just what are you hoping to accomplish here, exactly?" Riku then chooses to inquire about, and the goddess of nature responds "I've had a few setbacks, but I refuse to lose to either you or Hades! The Forces of Nature will take you down and return to our original plans." The teenage Overlord folds his arms together and states to her "So at this point it's all a matter of repairing your fractured ego. Cragalanche and Arlon have been destroyed and defeated respectively, most of your army has been wiped out by either us or Hades' forces, and your super weapons the Reset Bombs and the Lunar Sanctum have been eliminated. All that's left is Phosphora and you."

"…Wait…You. Did. WHAT?!" Viridi states in a completely flabbergasted tone of voice, followed by Phosphora asking in a concerned tone of voice "Umm, Mistress Viridi, you ok?" "You idiots! When did this happen?! When did you find the time to disable the Lunar Sanctum after you ruined my Reset Bomb Factory?! Why am I only hearing about this now?! …Oh wait, because YOU DEFEATED ARLON, OF COURSE!" Viridi was freaking out in a rather understandable manner from Riku's point of view.

"Forces of Nature! This is your mother speaking! Be on high alert for a six-legged bug that might be roaming the Earth at this very moment! Destroy it with EXTREME prejudice if you see it!" Viridi gives out an order of major importance to her weaker troops, and then proceeds to say to her remaining commander "Phosphora, you have my permission to destroy these idiots completely! Then make it back to our home, pronto!"

"…I'd just like to point out that I'm not the idiot here. I tried to destroy that bug when we took down the Lunar Sanctum, but Palutena got in the way. If anything, this whole mess is here fault." Riku points out, and the goddess of light bluntly says to him "Are you still going to be mad at me for that? That creature was obviously a threat to the Forces of Nature alone, and Viridi's reaction to this news just goes to show how much of a good idea it was to free it! If you want to keep saying otherwise, then you better start explaining why."

"…Never mind." Riku says after a momentary growl, and Viridi then chimes in and says "If things get out of hand on the planet, I'm personally holding you and your little angel responsible, Palutena!" "You would hold us responsible for something as simple as harming a single blade of grass!" Pit exclaims, pointing out the ridiculousness of the goddess of nature's statement after being silent through everything else.

"…That's beside the point, Pit." Viridi states in a subdued tone of voice, and then she drops out of the conversation to worry about other things. The young angel then turns towards Riku and asks him "So why can't you tell us anything about that bug?" The teenage Overlord lets out a sigh and states "You don't need to know anything about what we set free. It will likely show it's face again later, and then I will deal with it before it can cause any trouble. And if you get in the way again Palutena…"

"Hey! Don't threaten Lady Palutena, she hasn't done anything wrong!" Pit immediately goes on the defensive for the goddess' sake, and Riku gives him a brief sideward glance before saying to him "Pit, I respect your merit as this planet's hero, but you have to realize that Palutena isn't infallible." "I trust her to do the right thing, and that's good enough for me." Pit replies while firmly clenching his fists and gritting his teeth in anger towards Riku.

"You're such a yes man Pit. It's a good thing you're so cute." Phosphora suddenly says out of the blue, and Pit quickly forms a blush on his face as he pulls back and states "You're…you're not just making fun of me now, are you?" "Aw, you're turning red! That's even cuter!" The lightning girl says in an extremely playful manner, and Palutena states "He gets embarrassed easily, don't mind him." She was happy to get away from the other conversation as she said that.

"Oh, don't give it a second thought…ma'am." Phosphora sounded rather demeaning as she responded to Palutena, and Pit let out a worried remark before the goddess of light suddenly took the insult seriously and said "Did you just call me 'ma'am'? Are you trying to start something?" Before the two girls got into a cat-fight, Pit and Riku continued their way through the temple after spending the last few minutes just standing around.

While the two heroes quickly traversed they place to catch up on lost time, Phosphora responded to Palutena's offended statement by saying "Oh I'm sorry, you're much too young to be called 'ma'am'." "You know just as well as I do the lifespan of gods. And how about you? What's YOUR age?" Palutena asks, followed by the two girls replying to each other in sync "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!"

As Pit starts to grind down a rail to another area, he murmurs out in a not-exactly humble tone "You know, I don't really mind being called 'sir'…" "I know it's difficult when she's flirting with you, but remember that she's the enemy." Palutena firmly states to the young angel to get his ego in check, and in a deflated tone of voice Pit murmurs out the word "R-Right…" and resumes complete and utter focus on his mission.

After some stuff involving vents and balls and a couple more small electric generators, a winding path around the bottom spire underneath the Thunder Cloud Temple leads the two heroes to the room preceding where Phosphora was hanging out. A jeweled door spreads open to reveal a small dark passage to that area, and it's surprising that neither Viridi, Phosphora, or Hades in fact have said anything since the earlier conversation.

Running through the passage, the two heroes end up inside of a wide open room filled with a bright, static-y haze. As the heroes end up on the center platform, Phosphora, who was lying in the middle of the air, flips herself into a sitting position and crosses her legs while raising her right hand into the air and summoning forth some electricity into the tips of her fingers. With a playful smile on her face, Phosphora greets the heroes with a ditzy "Hello there!"

Much like when he confronted Pandora many days ago, Pit tries to do some goofy over-the-top posing while saying to Phosphora "Pet of Viridi! You'd better sharpen your claws! I am the servant of Palutena, goddess of light, and-" But even with the goddess of light providing him a pillar of light to help with his display, the young angel is swiftly interrupted by Phosphora firing down two bolts of lightning in rapid succession that force Pit to leap backwards to try and dodge them both while letting out cries of pain as the electricity briefly surges through his skin.

Up above, Phosphora's right fingertips can be seen surging with electricity as she coldly stares down at Pit, reminding the hero of light that she's not as light-headed as he was led to believe. As the girl lifts her fingers up to blow the lightning away into nothing but smoke, she starts to lower to the ground while stating "Enough blabbity blab. Now let's get to the main act!" She then swings her arms out and positions herself upright while surrounding her entire body with electricity, and the air suddenly becomes filled with an electrified pressure.

"Fine then…" Riku also begins to surround himself with an aura of pure lightning, with some of the excess flowing off into the floor as he puts away his sword for the time being and states towards Phosphora "Let's have ourselves a real lightning battle then!" "Ooooh, that's right, I almost forgot the Elemental Overlord was here." Phosphora said, though her voice showed more intrigue than it did concern.

"I am definitely going to have to bust out some more popcorn for this one." Hades' suddenly remarks, while Viridi says "Phosphora, show him who really brings down the thunder around these parts!" "Will the divine peanut gallery please exit the audience chambers?" Palutena nonchalantly remarks in response to the other two's sudden reappearance into the conversation.

Meanwhile, Pit feels all of his hairs rising up in the presence of all this static, and glances at the floating Riku while saying to him "I'm feeling pretty outclassed here." The teenage Overlord glances towards him and remarks "Don't be, you have as much of a right to be here as the two of us. Heck, I'd say you're likely stronger than I am right now. Don't doubt yourself, you'll be key to victory here." Of course, when he said 'stronger than I am', Riku was referring to the full strength of his base form.

Nevertheless, the teenage Overlord glanced at Phosphora and immediately flew straight at her, the girl kicking at the ground to send three bolts of lightning straight forth at him. Riku grabs the center one from the floor and uses it to swing the other two away, then pulls his hand back and combines some of his electricity into the bolt in order to mold it into the shape of a perfect looking arrow that he flings forth at Phosphora once he stamps down on the ground and aims forward.

The girl ducks down and to the right and then "skates" across the ground to reach the teenage Overlord, where she throws one leg up to try and land a direct hit on his head, but Riku reacts fast enough and grabs Phosphora's between her kneecap and ankles with his left hand, keeping her held in place with a tight grip as the girl chuckles and says "Oh, so you like to play rough, hmm?" "I'm not afraid to hit a girl, regardless of how they look, if that's what you're asking." Riku says in a rather serious.

Pit takes advantage of the two's banter and Phosphora's pose to fire a charged shot from the Lunar Orbitars, but the lightning girl suspected something was up and quickly tugged back on her grabbed leg with enough strength to pull herself out of Riku's grasp. She then proceeds to slide back along the ground to dodge Pit's attack while conducting more electricity through her body. She fires off this excess electricity into the conductor poles spread around the arena, giggling playfully all the while.

From the conductor poles, some bolts of lightning randomly start to fall across the battlefield, putting Pit on his toes as he's forces to leap and roll around to avoid getting shocked. Riku, however, takes some of the lightning bolts from the air and forms them into a sword of lightning in his right hand that is roughly the length of his body. He does this in preparation for another attack from Phosphora, who gently swings her right hand out to send forth a sphere of purple electricity.

The teenage Overlord swings at the sphere with his sword, but fails to cut it down and ends up sending it back at Phosphora instead, only this time the size of the sphere was a little larger than before. The girl of lightning kicks her right foot forward to send it back, essentially turning this into a game of tennis between her and Riku. The teenage Overlord then considers using the sphere to overload the conductors so Pit can help out again, and with a swing of his lightning sword he sends the sphere up and to the right at one of the conductors.

Phosphora immediately zips in front of the sphere and kicks it, but this time changes the trajectory so the attack would head for Pit instead. Riku quickly glides backwards to intercept the attack and hit it back, this time engaging in a rapid back and forth game with the sphere that has him and Phosphora zipping across the ground and skies of this arena to keep up their little tennis match. Pit, on the ground, decides to pick up the slack on Riku's end and takes aim at the conductors while Phosphora was distracted, firing a quick charge shot that flies through the air and destroys the top of the conductor easily.

The effect Phosphora spread across the battlefield thus swiftly ends, and in the moment it takes for her to look away to see this Riku is able to swing the now body-sized sphere at her, and she takes the attack head-on in the second it takes her to look back. She lets out a slight cry of pain and the attack ends up dropping her from the air and back to the ground, where Pit aims his sights on her and fires another charged shot from his weapons.

Phosphora gets on her feet just in time to be struck by the attack, which causes a high amount of pain due to her reflected attack weakening her defenses immensely. As such, she cries out in agony as she's launched back, and the attack appears to have been a decisive blow as she clenches her chest as she lands on her knee and foot and says "I take back what I said little angel…You aren't cute at all!" She seemed rather vindictive as she pointed this out, but had little time to say more as the electricity in her body was barely being controlled by her weakened self.

She spasms in place for a few moments before a release of electricity spawns from her body and drags her off of the ground, the only reason she doesn't perish then and there being that Viridi quickly warps her out of the field of battle with powers, manifesting the teleportation in the fitting form of a bolt of lightning. But the goddess of nature was almost at a loss of words at this point as she proclaimed "This can't be happening!"

"We're coming for you next Viridi!" Pit proclaimed with tons of bravado as he swung his right arm out and looked towards the ceiling, which was starting to crumble apart now that Phosphora had no control of the temple. As usual, Hades' had a little remark to throw into the mix as he said "Without little Phosphora, this place is going back to the dogs!" "Smarm it up while you can Hades, we're coming for YOU as well!" Palutena takes the chance to try and backtalk Hades for his arrogance while simultaneously summoning forth two pillars of light to get Riku and Pit out of there.

Before the teenage Overlord left the Thunder Cloud Temple though, he sighed and said "Yeah, kind of sucks that we're going to be fighting aliens next…" Making certain to speak quietly enough that only he could hear himself before he is drawn back to Skyworld…

_Next Time: Suddenly, Aliens!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 15: Mysterious Invaders**

After taking down all of Viridi's Commanders, the Lunar Sanctum, and the Reset Bomb Factory, Palutena was perfectly content with letting Pit have a comfortable night of rest before they went to deal with the goddess of nature herself. Riku spent the night in Skyworld staring out towards the starry sky, whose vastness was perfectly visible due to the lack of clouds this far up off the planet. Close to the time where the sun would rise, the teenage Overlord could sense something descending through the atmosphere of the planet, and he put on a serious expression before Palutena spoke to him through his mind.

"Riku, you need to get ready for battle. I've already forced Pit up and equipped him with a weapon." The urgency in the goddess' voice made Riku immediately reply with "You sensed it too, didn't you? We're under attack from something other than the Underworld Army and Forces of Nature." "I figured you would have sensed that. I'll summon a door in front of you, and you can meet up with Pit near the scene of attack."

As she says this, a magic door appears before Riku, with the sun beginning to cast it's bright orange light across the sky as she proceeds to enter through the door. He draws his sword and activates his flight to slowly float through the air above a small mountain range. The luminescent glow of the sunrise didn't feel beautiful today, but instead it carried an ominous vibe as the teenage Overlord turned around and caught Pit lazily flying through the air with a bow in hand forged to look a lot like Phosphora's lightning bolts.

The young angel let out an incredible yawn as his arms drooped in front of him, and Riku commented "I'm guessing you didn't sleep very well?" "…Oh…morning Riku…No, no I didn't sleep well…" Pit murmurs out with minimal effort. "Sorry Pit, but we're in the middle of a planetary emergency. We have a huge problem, one bigger than us gods." Palutena states in a very bothered tone, which is then followed by both Pit and Riku turning their heads forward in order to see a rather worrisome sight.

A dozen or so gigantic, flying islands could be seen spread across the sky, each one of them built so particularly that their undersides were formed into the shapes of funnels. From these undersides emerged light-blue beams of light that reached for the surface of the planet and tore it apart, dragging large chunks of rock, magma and water into their islands for some unknown reason. As he looks at this, Pit wakes up quite a bit and exclaims "What's going on?! They're ransacking the Earth!"

As the two heroes try to approach the islands, a squadron of drones are suddenly launched from the islands and immediately sent towards the intruders. The drones take on the shape of silver metallic triangles, and they fly by the two heroes in a rather organized manner, only to be promptly taken down by Pit and Riku's attacks. As holographic triangular edges start to show up via tiny probes, Pit looks at the beams touching the ground and comments "Are these the same things that took Thanatos away yesterday?"

"I sincerely doubt it Pit. Whatever these things are, they capture the land, not crystallize it and THEN capture it." Palutena offers her input on the situation, and Pit immediately jumps to conclusions on things considering how yesterday ended and said "Maybe they're a new unit of the Forces of Nature?" "Oh come ON now, do they look 'natural' to you?!" Viridi suddenly chimes in using a rather insulted tone of voice.

Before Pit could call out her name as usual, Hades then suddenly exclaims in a very chipper tone "Mornin', do-gooders!" The young angel is distracted by the Lord of the Underworld's sudden appearance and says "Don't tell me you two are behind all this?" Combined with his tiredness, he ends up taking a couple small energy shots to the face thanks to the triangular drones. As Riku takes the drones down, Hades' says in a lamenting tone "Sadly no, but I approve of any and all violence directed towards you."

"Besides, like I would EVER work with Hades. In fact, I was about ready to destroy him when THEY suddenly appeared." Viridi comments, and you could hear Hades' shocked gasp in the background as she did so. "No, they saved HER at the last minute." The Lord of the Underworld replies in a rather kiddish manner. "…Aren't you two both out of Commanders at this point? I really have to question what you would have done to each other short of a direct confrontation." Riku remarks.

"Touché, Ricky Boy." Hades says in a mildly humored manner, and with a tilt of his head Pit interjects with a remark of "Sooo…Neither of you know what we're dealing with here?" "Of course not, but I'm sure know-it-all Palutena or Ricky Boy would have some idea of what's going on." Hades' replies with. The goddess of light then proceeds to mention "Unfortunately, I don't know any more than you do. I can only tell you that they're not of this world."

"You mean they're…invaders from space?!" Pit said, expressing both surprised and horror in his words. "From space you say? Alright everyone, raise your hand if you came to this planet from outer space!" Hades' says in a rather goofy tone of voice, and though Riku knew he was being called out on this matter he didn't say anything while he gave the Lord of the Underworld an annoyed glare from afar. "Hmm, it seems the chosen one is too shy to speak up. Oh well, perhaps he doesn't know a thing after all." Hades' choices of words and firm voice suggested that he suspected otherwise, which worried the teenage Overlord as usual.

"Forget about just WHAT these freaks are! They're harvesting whole sections of earth! They're like mechanical bees, taking pollen back to whatever freaky hive they call home!" Viridi puts up a rather interesting analogy, but as in his nature Hades admits "Not to quibble over details, but I think locusts are a more apt analogy. But whatever they are, they must be stopped. Earth is MY flower to plunder, not theirs!" As he proclaims this, Underworld troops start to fly through the air towards the floating islands, but another line of defense in the form of laser fire shoots them down from the sky with ease.

"Ugh, are you serious? Let a REAL leader show you how it's done, Hades! Forces of Nature, drop the hammer!" Viridi's demand of a heavy assault on the islands leads to hundreds of her troops speeding back and forth through the air past the laser fire, but they only get so far before the drones come in and take them down with organized numbers. The goddess of nature is silent for a few moments, and the Lord of the Underworld chuckles before he says "Oh little rosebud, I'm waiting for you to show me how it's done!"

His taunting tone gets on Viridi's nerves, and she immediately replies with "That was just a warm-up! Come on my children, don't let a bunch of technological locusts ruin this world!" Another squadron of Forces of Nature troops show up for another assault, while some Underworld troops end up joining the mix while Hades directs them with a remark of "Shoot anything that moves!" As Pit and Riku are getting very close to the islands, a couple of silver colored ships that look like more refined funnels are sent out to try and stop them.

As he shoots at the bottom of the ship with Palutena's guidance, Pit remarks "I see those two still won't get along." With enough damage inflicted on the ship to blow up the underside and cause the whole thing to collapse out of the sky, Pit was able to continue on while the goddess of light said "Just ignore those two and focus on the invaders. Stay away from the laser fire if you can also."

"Man, to think that I'd have to deal with an alien invasion. This has really been one messed up month." Pit comments in a somewhat overwhelmed tone of voice, and as he rubs the back of his head for the moment that he was allowed to Riku turns to him and says "You'll be fine Pit…But I will admit, we are kind of outnumbered here." For the teenage Overlord to say that made the young angel ask the goddess of nature "Say Viridi, why are you just sending your regular troops out? We could use a little more firepower."

"YOU TOOK OUT ALL OF MY COMMANDERS! Are you serious Pit?! Arlon and Phosphora are going to be recovering for months, and all my children can barely put Cragalanche back together again! These troops are the best I got!" Viridi exclaims in a disbelieving tone of voice, and the young angel flinches after a moment of forgetfulness before he says "Sheesh, sorry, I forgot. I just wish we knew more about our foes…"

After a momentary pause as the two heroes look over the incredibly crafted islands filled with technological marvels from other worlds, a very excited laugh echoes throughout everyone's minds. "Huh?" Pit ponders, and it's not long after that where a squadron of drones is wiped out by the sweeping flames that emerge from the hands of a figure made entirely out of red fire. The being glides forth for a bit, his body releasing flames in a trail behind him before he glances back at the puzzled Pit and cracks a brimming smile.

Then, just for show, he turns his back to his enemies and flexes his muscles while proclaiming "Villains are no match for Pyrrhon!" As he says this, an aura of fire erupts around his entire body that completely burns the approaching drones to a crisp. The one called Pyrrhon then turns around and blasts off to battle, with Palutena commenting in a surprised tone "Pyrrhon? The sun god Pyrrhon?" "The one and only!" The blazing god proclaims proudly.

"This wacko's the sun god?" Pit says in a disbelieving tone of voice before another swarm of drones causes him to focus on shooting them down. "Well that's what he calls himself anyways!" Viridi says in a very demeaning manner, but the sun god just ignored that and mentioned "So you're all together?! Great! Pyrrhon loves a party!" "We appreciate your assistance, mighty sun god." Riku honestly says towards Pyrrhon.

"Thank you random flying human! …Wait a second." Pyrrhon comments in a rather puzzled tone of voice, and Palutena quickly and nonchalantly says "He's the Elemental Overlord." "Of course! I knew that! I am more than happy to receive a compliment from a fire-user in training! Allow Pyrrhon to show you my power!" The sun god, from a fair distance away, could be seen throwing out large fireballs at the artillery cannons across the top of the island Pit and Riku were over, all the while proclaiming "Taste the power of the sun, fiends!"

"Pyrrhon, if you could focus for a moment, do you know anything about our enemies?" Palutena asks. "Of course!" Pyrrhon quickly replies, throwing subtlety right out the door before he proceeds to explain "They're the Aurum, and THIS passel of floating islands is just one of their bases." "Just ONE of their bases?! How much more hell DO they plan to raise?" Hades remarks in a rather surprised and yet subtly intrigued tone.

"Let me drop a little knowledge on you." Pyrrhon says, and after Viridi sarcastically expresses her joy the sun god states quickly "It's all in the book of divine prophecy, chapter 84, section 3. 'Beckoned by destruction and corruption, the Aurum are born from and return to nothing. They travel across the galaxy to swallow up the heavens, land, and seas.'" "I don't remember that passage." Viridi remarks.

"It's in the super hidden section of the book, you wouldn't know about it…Anyways! Let me just put it bluntly, godlings and Overlord. The Aurum are gonna eat the entire Earth! But stow your fear. Pyrrhon has a delivery, and the return address is 'justice'!" The sun god then cuts away from the conversation for a moment so he can focus on attacking closer to the islands, where Pit and Riku have already descended towards, forcing them to weave through the odd construction the Aurum have utilized in their floating islands.

While focusing on fighting a couple of sparkling, technological Aurum wheels that roll across the ground, Pit asks in a flabbergasted tone "So…We can trust this guy, right?" Palutena was hesitant to say anything, leading to Viridi letting out a sigh and remarking "You know things are bad if this is the guy we're listening to." Afterwards, a series of burning explosions go off across the islands, with Pyrrhon's voice echoing through the sky along with those noises "Feel the wrath of my pyroblasters, space weirdoes! HAHAAHAHA! Kablooey! Kablammy!" The sun god was REALLY enjoying himself as he tore apart Aurum forces left and right with his short-bursts of flame beams from his hands.

"…Yes…Lets just let Pyrrhon take care of things up here. We'll take the other side of the islands!" Palutena proclaims as she proceeds to take the young angel through a chasm between two islands, avoiding the fire erupting out from Pyrrhon's attacks in the process. Riku follows close behind and briefly looks back up, saying in an appreciative tone "Honestly, I'm glad one of the gods are actually trying to fight the invaders."

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Palutena inquires in a somewhat offended manner. "Yes Riku, what are you trying to say?" Viridi also says, and the teenage Overlord immediately points out "Wasn't talking about you two, you got your forces to command, I can understand that. I was referring to the other gods, like Poseidon." "Who knows, who cares." Palutena comments in a rather nonchalant manner.

The subject is then swiftly switched to a more pressing matter as the two heroes slowly descend close to one of the Aurum's beams of light as it's in the middle of dragging chunks of rock from the planet. "They're out of control!" Pit exclaims in disbelief, and Viridi says "The Aurum are blowing up the earth and then taking the pieces for themselves!" "If the Aurum are like bees or locusts, then what are they making with this? Honey?"

Pit's question is going to go unanswered as Palutena mentions "Viridi, it was you and Hades who lured the Aurum to our world." "What?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Viridi immediately lashes out defensively at the goddess of light, and Riku says to the goddess of nature in retaliation "Viridi, shut up and listen." "Well, Pyrrhon said they're 'beckoned by destruction and corruption.' They were likely drawn here by the war between the Underworld and nature. " Palutena then says.

"Convenient how YOU'VE forgotten your little tiff with the Underworld!" Viridi exclaims to remind Palutena of past events, followed by Pit commenting in an annoyed manner "Convenient how YOU'VE forgotten the massive Reset Bomb visible from space." As the teenage Overlord nods his head in agreement, Viridi points out "You two! Zip it! The Aurum are the aggressors here! We're the victims!"

"She's unfortunately right. Like it or not, we're working together now." Palutena says, choosing not to let this argument escalate any further as Pit and Riku glide past the Aurum's tractor beam and start to head towards a rather unique islands in the center of the swarm that has a tower pointing out at the center of it all. "You're approaching the center of the Aurum islands. That tower is the key to stopping all this devastation. Prepare for land battle, Pit." The young angel pumps his fist into the air and proclaims enthusiastically "OK!" Palutena then sends Pit flying straight for the island, with Riku ready for battle as he follows closely behind him.

On the ground of the Aurum Island, Pit and Riku are greeted by a futuristic landscape unlike anything the young angel had ever seen before. "Is this…the future?" He said in an astounded tone of voice before he began to cautiously advance forward. "The Aurum must have stolen materials all over the universe to build this place." Viridi commented, and it was at that moment that Riku looked around to see if he could recognize anything from other worlds he's visited.

"I wonder how many other planets were ransacked in order to build this place." Palutena ponders the same thing the teenage Overlord did, and as Pit shares in glancing over the island with Riku he says "For being patched together, everything seems pretty structured." "If the Aurum are like bees, that makes sense. Bees are an orderly species. Likewise, the Aurum seem to act as one. And I doubt these drones have any sense of free will." Palutena comments on in an intrigued tone of voice.

As the young angel looks away from the structures he hears no noises in the atmosphere and comments "…It's really creepy how there's no active life on this island. Normally I'd expect a boss or something to talk to us, and they'd be all 'Mwahaha! I've been waiting for you Pit!'" "You aren't that known across the universe Pit…You aren't even that known on this planet!" Viridi exclaims to try and curb the young angel's ego, and Pit says with a nervous rub of his head "That's harsh, Viridi."

After that conversation ends Riku turns his head away from the structure and lets out a sigh of relief upon noticing there was nothing from worlds he visited within the Aurum Island. This allowed him to stay focused on destroying the drones alongside Pit as they advanced towards the command tower at the very center of the island. With Viridi and Hades focused on commanding their troops to deal with the aerial assaults from the Aurum drones, they stayed relatively quiet throughout the whole trip, leaving Pit with only Riku and Palutena to talk to.

"So Riku, you've seriously never encountered the Aurum before?" Pit inquires, bringing up the earlier matter Hades was pressing the teenage Overlord on. The teenage Overlord takes a moment to glance at the young angel and say to him honestly "No, I've never seen the Aurum. Really can't say I've seen many aliens, actually, which surprises me." "You don't say. Well, I'm sure this alien invasion is pretty exciting for you, right?" Pit inquires merrily, hoping to incite a smile from him or something close to that.

The teenage Overlord instead shakes his head and remarks "Can't say it's any fun when the whole planet is at stake." And Pit lets out a sigh before saying "Yeah, I guess so…" He was dejected about Riku's response for only a few moments before he noticed a gold treasure chest to the left of him. "Oh cool, the Aurum have treasure chests!" The young angel proclaims before he enthusiastically runs towards it.

"That's odd, why would the Aurum have one of those here?" Viridi ponders, and sure enough the suspiciousness of the treasure chest is answered via the platform it's on lowering into a pit full of Aurum drones. "Aww man, really?!" Pit says in disbelief, and things were only going to get worse for him as the treasure chest suddenly grows womanly legs with heels and throws a heavy kick into the young angel's back to launch him forward onto the ground.

Pit then rolls to the left to avoid being hit by the Aurum drones that charge at him, and once on his feet he hears Viridi say "Hades, did you place that Mimicutie there?!" "What, me? No, I would never." The Lord of the Underworld says in a nonchalant manner. The young angel takes care of the Aurums while Riku immediately destroys the Minicutie with a giant fireball. Once that's over with, Pit gets back on the platform and is taken back up to the teenage Overlord.

"…Ok, I'm not going for anymore treasure chests here." Pit says in an embarrassed tone of voice. "You can't trust anything the Aurum have, Pit. Everything in here is likely designed to kill or assimilate us." Riku advises, even though he knew the truth about the Mimicutie. The young angel then looked to the left and saw a hot spring in the middle of nowhere and immediately ran for it, causing the teenage Overlord to glare at him in a rather annoyed manner.

Before Pit even sets foot in the hot springs, Riku quickly appears in front of it and holds his hand out to freeze it over entirely with a blast of frost from the palm. "No, Pit, we're going to stop the Aurum, THEN you can enjoy your hot springs back at Skyworld." Riku firmly says to him, and the young angel lets out a disbelieving cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It was amazing how much he took this affront personally, and the sound of his voice echoed within everyone's eardrums.

"Pit, don't you ever do that again! Besides, Riku's right, if the Aurum ravage the entire planet, there won't BE anymore hot springs!" Viridi's remark causes Pit's eyes to suddenly flare up in anger, and with a puff of air through his nostrils he raises his arms into the air and proclaims "Those FIENDS! RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Suddenly, the young angel's energy increases tenfold out of motivation, and he dashes right past the frozen hot springs and begins slaughtering Aurum drones left and right with a combination of rapid-fire lightning bolts and melee attacks from his bow.

Riku has to pick up speed to catch up with Pit in the next room, and by the time he's there the young angel has already jumped into an Exo-Tank and begun to perform road rage and any Aurum drone that happened to get in the way of his high-speed vehicle. "What's an Exo-Tank even doing here?" Viridi inquired, and Palutena said "Don't look at me, I didn't put it there." "Viridi, you did it to help Pit, didn't you?" Riku inquires as he works to keep up with the speeding Pit.

"What?! No! Nuh-uh, I would never, ever, ever help Pit! I definitely don't like him at all!" The goddess of nature sounded all flustered as she responded to the teenage Overlord's inquiry, and in turn Hades chuckled and mentioned "Ah, young love. What I wouldn't give to be an eligible bachelor again. Those were the days…" "This isn't the time to get all lovey-dovey! All of you just be quiet now!" Viridi exclaims in a disgusted tone of voice.

By the time Riku has caught up with Pit, the young angel was using the Exo-Tank to repeatedly ram a Mimicutie against a wall in an attempt to destroy it "Die evil Aurum Mimicutie! Die in the name of hot springs everywhere!" Once the Mimicutie is destroyed entirely, Pit decides to leap off of the Exo-Tank, panting tiredly to himself before he glances to the left and notices Riku staring at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "…Well, you certainly cleared the way for us to move on." He then remarks.

In the background, Hades can be heard having a jolly laugh at Pit's little rampage, but the young angel didn't feel like acknowledging it in the slightest. Once he caught his breath, Pit and Riku continue onward, dealing with a long, winding grind rail section before an elevator takes them very close to the center of the island, where the metallic tower can be seen poking up through the center of a blocky, winding path towards the bottom.

"This is the central control tower. Head down and maybe you'll find the core." Palutena says, sounding rather uncertain of herself much to Pit's chagrin. "Aww, sounds like someone's losing her nerve! I guess I'd better step in! Get in here, boys! It's time for some Underworld Army action!" As Hades gives out his bombastic command, a legion of Underworld troops flies down towards the center of the tower, but before they can even make it midway to the bottom a series of laser come up in self-defense, wiping out the legion in a matter of seconds.

"…Well, good luck down there Pitty Pat!" Hades exclaims nonchalantly after a moment of awkward pause, and Pit says to him in retaliation "Both yours and Viridi's armies suck!" "Hey, don't lump my army with Hades'! I would never send my troops in for suicidal missions!" The goddess of nature tries to remark on the young angel's incorrect statement, but with a subtle whisper Hades says "Folks, just check back through the last four chapters to understand why that's incorrect."

"Shut up Hades!" Viridi and Pit exclaim to try and get the Lord of the Underworld to shut up, and the deity merely chuckles and says "I'm pretty certain I'm the one who should be tense here, but if you want to keep yelling that's just fine with me." "…Lady Palutena, why can't you just cut him off already?" Pit inquires, and the goddess replies "You know I can't Pit. Just go take down the Aurum Core and try to ignore him."

"…Fine." Pit laments, and with a weak advance he starts to descend down the pathway to head for the core. Riku just shrugs his shoulders for a moment and says "You'd think you'd be used to this by now Pit…" But the young angel doesn't end up replying to that, much to the teenage Overlord's dismay. The two of them eventually make it to the island's final lift, where they descend upon a circular room filled with shining silver metal walls, a prismatic floor, and a glowing red cylindrical core that's surrounded by four floating guard plates that spin themselves around the core to protect it.

"Alright, this is the Aurum core! Now all we have to do is-" Before Pit can enthusiastically fire a shot at the core, Riku slams his right hand against the ground and sends multiple streams of electricity right at the core with the intention of overloading it entirely. The area becomes redder with each passing second until the core explodes with red electricity, and Pit letting out a sudden "Whoa!" as the entire island begins to shake. "Well now, let's see what happens." Hades says in an intriguing tone of voice.

As the teenage Overlord lifts himself up he says "What happens next is that we get out of here. Come on Pit!" Riku immediately turns towards the ceiling and kicks off the ground to get out of the area before it all blows up. But the young angel doesn't get the power of flight activated in time, forcing Pyrrhon to suddenly show up and intervene, where he grabs Pit under his right arm while proclaiming "Here Pyrrhon comes to save the day!"

Blazing out of the Aurum Islands at full speed, Pyrrhon blows up any debris in his way with one pyro blaster fired from his left hand. By the time the two were a safe enough distance away, the main reactor in the central island reaches critical mass and released a massive, explosive shockwave across all the other islands, cracking all of them in half and completely disabling everything within them. Pyrrhon, with Pit still in his grasp, ends up meeting with Riku far away from the collapsing islands moments later.

Pyrrhon smiles as bright as his godly namesake and says to Pit "Are you ok, citizen?" "You betcha!" The young angel states with a thumbs-up from his left hand. The teenage Overlord then says "Palutena, we're ready to return to Skyworld. We should consider ourselves lucky that the Aurum function entirely on electricity, huh?"

As the goddess of light summons forth a pillar of light to call Pit and Riku back, she replies with "I don't think that's going to happen again, but at least the planet isn't being ravaged for now, good work you two." Once both heroes were out of the way, Pyrrhon gets an excited grin on his face as he places his fists against his well-sculptured hips and says "Pyrrhon senses danger. And now…" As he turns to face the sky ahead of where he floated, the sun god notices an entire fleet of at least a hundred bizarrely crafted spaceships entering through the planet's atmosphere. With his heart tingling in joy, Pyrrhon finishes his earlier sentence with "Pyrrhon sees it…" and then immediately flies towards the fleet for battle…

_Next Time: More Aliens!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

My apologies for this chapter being late. This chapter is the blandest one in the entire game for me, so covering it in the fic took a lot more motivation than I expected. I am also going to have to report now that the next chapter might be a little bit late too, but things should be back to normal after that. So enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: The Aurum Hive<strong>

The Aurum, being relentless in their invasion of the planet, forced Pit and Riku to not take even a second of break-time between their destruction of the islands and the next mission, especially once Pyrrhon mentioned the swarm of Aurum ships heading through the planet skies. Pit was equipped with some Artillery Claws and the two heroes rushed out through the magic door, where the hastiness of it's opening causes a heavy vacuum of air to pull Pit right out into the cloudy skies.

The two heroes start to rapidly descend towards a fleet of Aurum ships while Palutena explains "The Aurum may have been weakened, but they aren't done for yet. Next, we need to destroy their fleet." As the plethora of blue, crystalline ships comes into view through the thicket of clouds Pit exclaims "Understood! We're on our way!"

Once the two heroes were close enough to the ships, Pit noticed some glowing green bulges appear on the bizarre wings of the ships and begins to shoot at them. Each time he destroyed a bulge an Aurum ship started to self-destruct, and briefly the young angel flips around to watch them get destroyed in their entirety. Afterwards, some drones start to come forth to stop the heroes from causing havoc to their fleet, but the rapid-fire barrage of needles from Pit's new claws prove to be powerful enough to deal with the troops.

Riku doesn't need to help out this time around with the troops, as he comments to both Palutena and Pit "I'm going to split off for a bit and deal with some of the ships. I'll catch up with you later." The teenage Overlord then covers himself in an aura of fire and flies to the left, drawing his sword and using all of his powers to slash large waves of fire right through ship after ship, only cutting off his assault on them when the troops begin to fire upon him. Pit watches him for a few seconds before the large concentration of ships throughout the sky causes him to remark "I can't believe there's so many ships."

"Well of course, there's battleships, cruisers, destroyers, kayaks…" Palutena is about to list off every type of ship she can think of, but in an annoyed tone of voice Pit cuts her off by saying "I mean the AURUM have a ton of ships. Besides, I doubt they have any kayaks." This is then followed by the nearby ships beginning to fire upon the young angel, using homing streams of ivory energy to try and take him down. He has to use barrel rolls to dodge most of the attacks while letting out concerned proclamations.

"It does seem to be pretty bad…If you and Riku get overwhelmed, I'm going to call you back." Palutena points out to reassure the young angel, but then Hades cuts in with his usual sass and says "Now why would you want to do that? Where you pinheads see adversity, I see opportunity!" In response, Pit proclaims the Lord of the Underworld's name as he always does, followed by Hades ignoring that while saying "For example, that battleship looks lie it could use a good home." He refers to the large cruiser that the young angel is currently flying over, and Pit then looks to the upper left part of the sky and sees a swarm of hundreds of Monoeyes going right for the ship.

"Now's your chance, minions! It's lootin' time!" Hades gives the command with much enthusiasm in his voice, and as Pit flies away from the ship he gets to watch it get completely swarmed by streams of the Underworld soldiers. Palutena is humored by this assault as she comments "The Underworld is surely enthusiastic when it comes to thievin'." As Pit passes by this one ship, he notices a large mechanical sphere that eclipsed even the Lunar Sanctum in size, and it was surrounded by a few islands.

"That's where the Aurum are being hatched." Palutena remarks, and with a raise of an eyebrow cause of the terminology used Pit asks "You mean built, right?" "Sorry, forgot that they aren't a bee colony." The goddess of light says, chuckling at her brief moment of naivety. "Of course, going back to that for a moment, if their smaller troops are drones, their ships are killer bees. If we want to take down their fleet, we need to target the source of the problem."

"I just pray there isn't an Aurum Queen…" Pit says in a moment of concern. As he starts to head for the Aurum Hive, he briefly sees Riku crossing through the sky like a burning comet, with hundreds of drones trying to pursue him in failure. Pit chooses to help out by destroying at a few dozen drones while saying to Palutena "Riku's really putting in some work out there." "Everyone is doing their part to stop the Aurum. I guess there's just something about an alien invasion that brings out the motivation in everyone." Palutena responds with.

"Hahahaha! She's right you know!" Pyrrhon then cuts in as he streaks through the air in front of the young angel, using his pyro blasters to burn through a ship a good distance away. "Come to think about it, what are these ships even doing out here Pyrrhon?" Pit asks, since the sun god knew the most about these aliens. "They are probably trying to continue their assault on the planet while the islands are being repaired. But fear not citizen, so long as justice burns bright, even a thousand ships won't stand a chance against me!"

Pyrrhon then flies off to show the Aurum the might of his burning justice, and Pit remarks in a moment of quiet awe "You know, Pyrrhon's a bit of a loon, but he doesn't seem like such a bad guy. He's definitely a lot nicer than most of the other gods and goddesses I've met, Lady Palutena." "Are you becoming his fan Pit? Cause if so, you might want to ask him for his autograph once this Aurum invasion is over." Palutena playfully mocks Pit for his admiration of Pyrrhon, which causes the young angel's face to become red with embarrassment.

"That's not what I'm saying! It's just that I can trust the guy, ok?" Pit says in defense, and the goddess of light chuckles at his defensive nature. This is then followed up by the young angel regaining focus on the sky in front of him as he is suddenly attacked by some…Monoeyes? Pit was naturally assuming that Hades was already trying to betray them until he notices the metallic coloring of the creature's skins, while Viridi says in disbelief "What the heck?! Those Aurum drones look exactly like Underworld troops!"

Pit is completely surprised by this sudden bit of news, while Hades whistles in a fascinated manner before remarking "I must admit, they are quite impressive for mere knock-offs." "Ugh, first they devour planets and now they copy troops?! Ugh, lowlifes." Viridi says, showing complete disgust towards the Aurum for what they have done, though one could tell that her priorities regarding their offenses were rather skewed. "I wonder if the Mimicutie and Exo-Tank on that island were also created by the Aurum." Palutena ponders.

"Full disclosure: I was actually the one responsible for the Mimicutie. You're welcome, Pitty Pat." Hades' says, and you could only imagine the wide grin on his face as he mentioned this. "…Why am I not surprised." Pit says in a dry tone of voice, and Hades replies to him by stating "I would have given a present to Ricky Boy too, but the boy is just too serious to enjoy such things. Hey, since he isn't here, you want to hear a nice little story about him, Pitty Pat?"

"Just focus on stopping the ships for now, Hades." Palutena bluntly comments before the Lord of the Underworld can get an answer, and Hades' says in a light-hearted manner "Hehe, you don't have to tell me that twice." Pit then starts to head for one of the islands surrounding the Aurum Hive, where Palutena takes him down into the foggy innards while saying "Here you can take cover from the fleet for a bit."

Weaving between technological pillars within the islands that summon forth Aurum Monoeyes, Pit's hopes for cover from the ships is ruined once one of the ships starts to glide along the side of the island in order to start sending laser fire at him, caring not about the destruction it's causing to it's own allied island in the process. "Whoa, are you serious?!" Pit exclaims in a panic as he flies around to dodge the lasers, while Palutena remarks "The Aurum are completely ruthless. They'll destroy themselves in order to get at you!"

"I can see that! Maybe we can use this in order to help destroy other ships?!" Pit exclaims while trying to avoid succumbing to the pressure of his current predicament. Luckily for him, the ship firing on him is suddenly split in half by a sudden gigantic thunder bolt from the sky, and it's only moments later that the teenage Overlord flies away from the explosion created by the destruction of the Aurum ship and joins back up with Pit. "Well, I've taken down a hundred Aurum ships, so the planet is a little safer for the moment." Riku comments, trying to sound humble in spite of his incredible feat.

"A-A hundred Aurum ships? …I don't think we've taken down even ten." Pit remarks in an astonished tone of voice, leading to Palutena then saying "Numbers don't matter right now Pit, this isn't a competition." "Have you even noticed anyone controlling the ships? I'm not sensing any life forms…" Viridi says, sounding a little worried out as she does so.

"I don't think the Aurum have any foot soldiers like that. It's a purely mechanical race…No sense of right or wrong, no emotions, just nothing but a desire to reduce planets to nothing." Riku remarks as he and Pit leave the floating island, with Hades then saying in an incredibly robotic tone of voice "Weeeee arrrre from outerr palace…" "Yes yes, you're very hilarious." Palutena bluntly remarks in turn.

With the two heroes once more going through a swarm of ships, Pit uses his Artillery Claws to take down the weak points, commenting in a rather surprised tone "You know, considering how advanced the Aurum are, I'm surprised they'd leave their weak-points exposed like this." "Or you can just thank me for the user-friendly interface." "You mean YOU did this Lady Palutena?" As though Pit needed another reason to be impressed by the goddess of light's skills…

"I attached large markers to the ships' exteriors that connect to their engines. In less technical terms, I used my power of weak-point exposure." Once Palutena has explained herself, Pit and Riku were rather close to the Aurum Hive, which reveals the glowing purple crevices spread across the edge and a single yellow triangle-shaped outlet that appears to be sending the ships out into the sky. "I must admit Palutena, I am impressed that you managed to place weak-points on these Aurum ships." Riku remarks.

"They might be aliens, but I'm still a goddess!" Palutena proudly proclaims, but after an awkward pause she says "…Speaking of that though, we do actually have a problem." "What now?" Pit remarks after a nonchalant sigh, leading to Palutena explaining "There doesn't appear to be any way into the Aurum hive."

"Seriously?" Pit says, followed by Palutena giving an affirmative response, and Pit remarks in turn "So we can't just bust our way in?" "We can't." The goddess of light is saddened to say, and Viridi then remarks "There is a shield protecting the ships as they come out of the hive."

"But you always find a way inside these places Lady Palutena…Wait, Riku, can't you just cut through the Aurum Hive?" Pit asks, and the teenage Overlord replies with a somewhat perturbed expression "The Aurum Hive doesn't run off of any energy source that I can manipulate, and the metal is completely foreign…" "…Soooooo, what do we do now? Do we just go home and order a pizza?" Pit says, at a complete loss of ideas on how to handle the Aurum.

"Well, I DO have a coupon…" Palutena says nonchalantly, with Viridi stating in surprise "You two have more pedestrian tastes than I thought…" Riku rubs the bottom of his chin and says "…You know, I don't think I've ever had a pizza before, but we really need to find a way into the Aurum Hive first. So hold off on that coupon for later, Palutena." "We still don't have an answer to that problem, Riku!" Pit exclaims afterwards.

"Don't curse the darkness…light a candle! When freaky aliens give you lemons, make freaky alien lemonade!" Hades remarks with his usual nonchalance, and without warning he exclaims "Like this!" and the Aurum ship he had his Monoeyes swarm earlier is suddenly flung through the sky at the shield of the Hive itself. The Hive was incapable of recognizing that the ship had been hijacked until it was far too late, leading the front of the ship puncturing right through the shield with enough to stick inside as the shield solidifies. The energy radiates from the part of the shield that was punctured, and as Pit remarks in shock "Well, that's one way to open a shield…"

"That. Was. Awesome." Surprisingly, Viridi was left struck with a look of utter awe, and Palutena states "Head through the hole in the ship to enter the hive." Pit and Riku head for the hole in the ship to infiltrate the hive, while Pit exclaims "Commencing Operation Aurum Hive Infiltration! Let's do this!" But before he can make it inside he had to deal with the flames within the ship itself along with the dying Monoeyes strewn around him. "Hot hot hot hot hot hot HOT!" The young angel exclaims in pain, and Riku grimaces upon realizing he should've given Pit some heat protection.

Nonetheless, by the time the two make it into the sleek confines of the Aurum Hive, Pit is relatively unharmed thanks to Palutena's protection…Barring a little bit of sweat on his skin. After he swipes the sweat off with his claws Pit and Riku start to run through the Aurum Hive past one of the mechanically opening doors while the young angel "Now that we're here, we're one step closer to stopping their fleet!"

"Now you two need to find the Hive's power generator and shut it down." Palutena remarks, and not even just a few seconds a loud alarm starts to go off within the Hive, causing the Aurum to send their drones after the heroes along with some copies of the Forces of Nature. "Hey! The Aurum are copying my troops as well!" Viridi exclaims in a rather insulted manner, and the Lord of the Underworld can't help but take a moment to mock her for it by saying "And they look much better than the originals! Must be the metal coating."

"Ugh, it's so unnatural…" Viridi says while Pit and Riku dispatch the copies with ease. Once they are able to move on through the Hive, they end up dropping down a hole into an area with a few Aurum sentries, while Palutena says "The ship the Underworld army hijacked was in a pretty bad shape." "Well duh, they rammed it right into the hive's shield! But hey, look on the bright side, in the process they took out their own troops AND the Aurum drones."

"Umm, you're welcome?" Hades' remarks in a rather puzzled tone of voice. After a few more seconds of traversing the Hive, the heroes' feel a rather unnatural chill creeping through their bodies. Connected to them via the mental link, Viridi and Palutena could also feel the atmosphere of the Aurum Hive's innards, with Viridi saying with a shiver in her voice "It just feels so cold and sterile…What could have possibly created these machines?"

"You know…that's a really good question Viridi." Pit remarks, but then Riku stops this inquiring train of thought by stating "Sometimes it's a good idea to not receive answers. Knowing that you aren't alone in the universe is already pretty frightening, I can't imagine how all of you'd react if you tried to discover the origins of the Aurum." "Ummm, Riku, haven't you forgotten that we already fought Space Pirates? We knew we weren't alone a while ago." Palutena remarks.

The teenage Overlord then blinks a couple times and says in a slightly embarrassed tone "Oh yeah…I forgot about that. It happened so fast that it didn't really stick in my mind." "Can't really blame you…Even I can't believe we fought Space Pirates, and I've met Samus." Pit remarks. After a few more seconds of traversing the Aurum Hive, the two heroes run across a room that runs in a loop, which seems like a rather odd design choice until they feel the ground tremble beneath their feet, at which point a heavily armored dark-purple vehicle speeds right by in front of them.

"Whoa! A train here of all places?!" Pit exclaims in utter shock, but it quickly corrected by Palutena mentioning "Actually Pit, that seems to be a supply vessel. It's likely carrying parts around for the construction of the Aurum ships." Is sounded like it was only a theory though, and the most important thing the goddess of light really had to mention about the vehicle was that Pit and Riku shouldn't let it ram into them…So naturally, Riku chooses to instead just throw the thing off course by stamping the ground and summoning a stalagmite to launch it into a nearby rail.

"…No comment this time." Pit says, and then he and Riku move on through the Hive undeterred for quite a bit of time…Until after a descent from a lift the two heroes find yet another hot spring in their way. Pit exclaims "Woo-hoo! This time you're mine!" The young angel is about to make a mighty leap into the hot spring when Riku grabs the back of his shirt and holds him in place while remaking "I told you Pit, we aren't going into any hot springs until we've defeated the Aurum."

"Oh come on! Can't I just have this one hot spring? You're denying an angel of his natural right to sit in a hot spring!" Pit exclaims, his explanation causing Riku to raise an eyebrow while stating "Is that actually a thing, Palutena?" The goddess of light replies "Pit's contract as an angel has a lot of rules and clauses…The right to going into hot springs is SADLY not one of them."

"Please Riku? I'm going into withdrawal here…" Pit begs while holding his hands together to the best of his ability, and the teenage Overlord glares at him and says "Pit, I am just going to freeze the hot springs again if you try anything." "Then you'll have to freeze me as well! I'm not going to give this up this time!" Pit exclaims, swinging his arms forth as he kicks his feet against the ground to try and get away from Riku's grip, but the teenage Overlord just proceeds to lift up off the ground and float over the hot springs so he can drop the young angel onto the nearby jump pad while he exclaims in sheer disbelief.

Once Riku has joined up with Pit, the young angel just lets out a dejected sigh and states "I can't believe I've been foiled twice now…" The teenage Overlord folds his arms together and says "Hey Pit, turn around, there's an Aether Ring behind you that you can ride." Pit turns around to look at said vehicle, and with another sigh he says "I guess that might help me get over the hot springs…" He then slowly walks into the room in order to board the Aether Ring, with Riku looking rather guilty as he remarks "…Maybe I shouldn't have been so tough on him. He's just a kid after all…"

With the help of the Aether Ring and a lot of Aurum destruction, Pit is able to get back to his chipper self rather quickly, something that Riku was rather glad to see. After at least four rooms full of enemies and defensive walls, Pit is forced to get off of the Aether Ring due to a jump pad leading to another room, but this next room was rather different from the rest of the Aurum Hive thus far as it was a vast expanse with an almost perfect replica of the Earth's blue skies above them. There was also a naturally built grind rail that led to the center of the Hive, which was a gigantic crystalline citadel.

"I'm surprised all of this fits inside of the Hive." Pit remarks as he leaps onto the rail and starts to grind towards the citadel, with Riku choosing to mix things up a bit by creating platforms of solid wind alongside the rail that he runs across to keep up with the young angel. "Well, this place is quite expansive." Palutena states in awe.

A few seconds after their advance begins, the two heroes are suddenly swarmed by dozens of Aurum Drones, forcing them to go on the attack against them, but their numbers are many and they refuse to relent out of protection for the generator. As Pit sweats a bit while keeping the fire from his Artillery Claws coming out, he remarks "So…many…enemies…" Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the pressure to be taken off of the young angel as units from the Forces of Nature come in and start to attack the Aurum drones.

"Huh?" Pit says, and Viridi quickly exclaims says to him "Don't get the wrong idea Pit, I'm not doing this to save you. It's just in my best interest to keep you alive for now." "…You do realize nobody but Pit believes you, right Viridi? I don't think even you believe what you are saying." Riku comments, and the goddess of nature immediately replies in a flustered tone "You be quiet! I do not care at all about Pit, especially after he took down all of my children and commanders!"

"I'm pretty certain you do, Viridi. You don't have to be so Tsundere about this." Riku states, and Viridi immediately exclaims in confusion "Tsun-what?!" "…Never mind, I shouldn't have brought up a term that you wouldn't have heard of before." The teenage Overlord decides to drop the matter entirely, but the other spectators had other plans as Palutena stated "Hehe, young love is so cute to watch."

"I'm at least a thousand years old, I just look young! And I'm NOT in love!" Viridi says, her flustered behavior increasing quite a bit. "You know little rosebud, I call you that because it's really easy to imagine you looking very red in the face every time you talk." Hades' says with his usual nonchalance, and Viridi exclaims so loudly that you can imagine her voice going hoarse later "SHUT UP HADES!"

After finishing up the grind rail without commenting on the divine peanut gallery's commentary, Pit and Riku finish off one last legion of Aurum drones in order to open the way to the very center of the Aurum Hive. After they go through it, they find a large glowing orange orb with a few mechanical extensions. The orb was surrounded by a few rather convenient grind rails, and Pit leaps on one of them while Palutena comments "That's the Aurum Generator." "It's as bright as the sun!" Pit remarks as the light shines brightly in his eyes.

Riku flies around the area and fires some water bullets at the Generator to counteract it's heat, while Pit alternates between destroying the triangular sentries and attacking the core itself. The core is surprisingly not very defensive on it's own, with Pit remarking "I can't believe how easy this is. We conveniently ended up entering the area where there was a path straight to the Generator, and now there are grind rails that will allow us to hit it!"

The teenage Overlord immediately glares at Pit in disbelief for saying something like that, and sure enough here to make things worse for the group was Pyrrhon, who came flying into the room with his victorious laughter. "Pyrrhon? What are you doing here?" Pit says in a tone of surprise, and while he flies around the generator the sun god proclaims "Looks like you two could use a little hand. The heroic hand…of just-"

Before he can finish his sentence, he is interrupted by a large, sharp shard of Aurum metal being plunged right through the center of the generator, completely obliterating all of it's functions in mere seconds. Riku claps his hands together as he floats by the dumbfounded Pyrrhon, who finishes his sentence with an awkward sounding "-ice…" As the generator's glow start to fade away as the structure of it crumbles, Pit remarks "See, it was ea-"

"Tempt fate one more time Pit, and the next thing you know we'll be dealing with an Aurum copy of yourself or something." Riku remarks in a very firm tone of voice, which causes Pit to say as a pillar of light comes forth to call him and the teenage Overlord back to Skyworld "No thanks! I already have one evil clone, that's good enough!" Once the two heroes are dragged back by Palutena, Pyrrhon shrugs his shoulders and has a jolly laugh before he decides to take his leave of the Aurum Hive, which was now collapsing upon itself.

Pyrrhon has to use his full speed to escape the Aurum Hive, especially thanks to the heavy gravitational pull being exerted from the dead Generator that dragged in even the Aurum ships and destroyed them once an atomizing explosion goes off from within the Aurum Hive. Pyrrhon managed to get a safe distance away from the Hive before it was finished off, and with a heroic folding of his arms he proclaims "Now, onto the Aurum Brain!"

_Next Time: The Alien Nerve Center_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 17: The Aurum Brain**

With the islands and the Hive completely annihilated by Pit and Riku, all that remained was the entity that Pyrrhon referred to as "The Aurum Brain". By this point, Palutena had figured out enough of the Aurum's tech to make Pit a palm weapon based on the remains of some of their islands. With that weapon and a high amount of adrenaline pumping through him thanks to all of his victories, the young angel leaped right through the magic door alongside Riku while proclaiming with all of his heart "Let's finish the Aurum off once and for all!"

When the two of them went through the door, they find themselves face-to-face with a legion of Aurum Islands and ships, all of which were constructed from the gargantuan Aurum Hive hovering over the atmosphere of the planet. This Hive was likely ten times as big as the other ones, but with a more ominous dark grey coloring in it's metal and tons of extensions that doesn't make it look at all spherical. But everyone seemed to be perfectly eager to take the fight directly to the Aurum Brain, as swarms of Underworld and Forces of Nature troops join Pit in a direct flight towards that gigantic Hive.

"Underworld forces! Commence an assault on the Aurum central nervous system!" Hades proclaims, followed by Viridi saying "Children! We're taking the fight to the brains of this operation! The Aurum Brain!" As the troops face off against their Aurum copies and other drones, Pyrrhon blazes on by past everyone while proclaiming triumphantly "Sun god Pyrrhon on the scene! Now with added Pyro Cannon action!"

He displays his 'added Pyro Cannon action' by sending forth a gigantic beam of fire that burns right through about two Aurum ships. As Pit and Riku watch the battle unfold on all sides, Palutena remarks "With all of us gods…er, and Pyrrhon, working together, the Aurum Brain doesn't stand a chance!" "It's kind of crazy! The biggest egos in the universe working together?" Pit remarks in stunned disbelief.

"Onward troops! Drive those intruders back into space!" "We cannot lose! Our planet's very existence is on the line!" "Do your thing, Pyro Snake! Shazammitylam!" As the sun god's burning snake can be seen whipping right through Aurum Islands left and right, Pit remarks on the other deities' attitudes by rubbing the back of his head and saying with a chuckle "Well, at least everyone seems to be in good spirits…"

"Or they've finally lost it." Palutena nonchalantly remarks, and Riku mentions in response to everything "I can't blame them for enjoying themselves. For the first time since they started to fight against us, they aren't fighting a losing battle." After the two heroes make it past the defensive line of islands and ships, they are face-to-face with the massive fortress, and Pit's mouth drops in shock while Palutena remarks "This is it Pit, this fortress houses the Aurum Brain, which controls every single one of the Aurums."

"I-I-It's so big! It's almost like a miniature planet! …Wait, where did you hear all that Lady Palutena?" Pit goes from shock to puzzlement in a few seconds, and the goddess of light responds to that by saying "Oh, Pyrrhon told me." As Pit and Riku go for the Aurum Brain's fortress, the young angel remarks "Man, is that guy obsessed with the Aurum or what? He sure knows a lot about them."

"That's because I spend a lot of time on Divinipedia." Pyrrhon says in a rather relaxed manner, and as Riku raises an eyebrow because of the name the young angel does so out of curiosity while asking "Divinipedia? Send me the link." "…I'm pretty certain you don't even have a computer on this-" "The time for learning has passed! Attack the Aurum Brain!" Pyrrhon interrupts Riku's remark with his usual enthusiasm, and the teenage Overlord merely sighs in turn.

After a little bit of gliding around the edge of the fortress, the two heroes find an irregularly shaped tunnel and decide to investigate it, and as Pyrrhon would soon confirm as he joins up with the two heroes "This tunnel should take us directly to the Aurum Brain! Come on, Pit and Riku! It's time for us to take this space junk to the space dump!" There was nothing but silence between the three warriors as they traversed the pale mint-green innards of the Aurum Brain's fortress, with many drones getting in their way due to the Brain's importance to their survival.

But they stood no chance, and after passing through a slightly smaller passage the warriors end up inside of a cylindrical room that was filled with sparkling cybernetic plates along with a very solid looking glass sphere containing the formless intelligence of the entire Aurum race in the very center of this room. "So…This is the Aurum Brain?" Pit remarks as he floats a fair distance away from the sphere, and Pyrrhon pats the young angel on the right shoulder and urges him "Alright Pit, do your thing…Your shooting thing, that is."

With Palutena guiding him around the Aurum Brain after he nods his head, the young angel uses the Aurum-born palm to rapid-fire charged shots at the Brain, hoping to deal an ironic defeat to the intelligence. There was nothing but an eerie silence throughout the room, with Riku floating beside Pyrrhon and giving him a cautious glare as he has a rather intriguing smile on his face.

Pit fires at both the Aurum Brain and the drones that try to defend it for quite a number of seconds, and though he was fully concentrated on the battle he noticed that he wasn't appearing to cause any damage to the intelligence. Pyrrhon appears ready to jump in to help, but knowing what was about to happen caused Riku to grab the sun god by his right arm and say in a firm tone of voice "Pit can handle this on his own, you don't need to get involved."

Pyrrhon laughs at the teenage Overlord in a rather bizarre manner before he says "You can't stop justice! So it's time for you to get off!" The sun god then swiftly punches Riku in the face with his other arm, using all of might to ensure that the teenage Overlord would let go and be sent flying a good enough distance away. Pyrrhon then sets himself ablaze and proclaims "It's brain-frying time!" He then turns around and flies straight for the Aurum Brain, while Pit notices him performing this move and proclaims in disbelief "What are you doing?!"

Riku recovers from the sun god's punch and quickly throws his right hand out to try and force Pyrrhon to heel, but finds that he cannot control his body due to the fact that his flames are born from the energies of the sun, which he cannot control. As the teenage Overlord spends a moment cursing this, Pyrrhon is able to dive straight into the Aurum Brain by burning through the glass sphere, and as the two seem to merge together the center of the brain starts to glowing bright yellow as waves of red heat start to radiate out.

"We're getting out of here, now!" The teenage Overlord proclaims stoically before he suddenly flies in front of Pit and wraps his right arm around him. "Hey, what are you-" Palutena is befuddled at the teenage Overlord preventing her from using the power of flight to get the young angel out of there, but drops the problem when Riku kicks off against the air and rockets straight out of the fortress the way the two of them came in at speeds faster than she could've managed to move Pit at.

As such, the two heroes are able to avoid the ensuing mass release of flames from all ports of the fortress, some of which incinerate the Aurum Ships that were guarding the outside of the place in ambush of the two heroes. Once Riku was far enough from the Brain's fortress, he lets go of Pit and listens to him say in a flustered tone "What's going on?! Why did Pyrrhon do that?!" The young angel flips his head back and forth to try and search for the sun god, hoping that he made it out safely after all that had happened.

"Pit…Pyrrhon just betrayed all of us." Riku comments without hesitation while folding his arms together and looking at the fortress, and Pit immediately turns to face him while proclaiming "You're kidding me! Pyrrhon would nev-" "Hahaahahah!" The sun god's triumphant and echoing laughter can suddenly be heard throughout the depths of space, causing Pit to turn around as his laughter increases in volume and he says in a bombastic tone of voice "Nicely done!" The unthinkable then happens, as Pyrrhon's visage then appears in front of the entirety of the Aurum Brain's fortress.

"Thanks to you, Pyrrhon has leveled up! I am now a Level Infinity Epic Super God…Plus! Ultimate power is now Pyrrhon's!" The sun god arrogantly flexes his muscles while bombastically proclaiming his newfound power across the heavens, which causes Riku to glare at him from afar while Pit is barely able to comprehend what's going on and asks "What are you talking about?" "Sit back and let me show you!" Pyrrhon folds his arms together as Aurum drones fly in to attack both Pit and Riku, but something was different about them…

Their electronic innards change to a bright red color, and their attacks seem to be quite a bit stronger as they fire upon the heroes. Riku goes on the defensive to try, but the sun god has added some of his properties to the projectiles of the Aurum drones and is able to actually deal a little bit of damage to Riku's body because of that. "Hahahaha! I am pulling the Aurum's strings now! Not even the combined power of the gods or the Elemental Overlord can stop me!" Pyrrhon brags before his visage disappears from the front of the fortress.

"We'll see about that you arrogant fool." Riku quietly states as he tries to wait for the right chance to slip past the Aurum drones and go straight for Pyrrhon himself. However, he's distracted by Hades suddenly proclaiming "Oh, snap! Poor Pitty got duped!" "This might not be the best time to rub salt in the wound." Viridi wisely points out, and while trying to focus on all of the Aurum drones swarming his way Pit proclaims "Besides! All of us got duped here, including you Hades!"

"…Did all of us really get duped? Think about it for a moment there, Pitty Pat." Hades states, and the intention of his message is lost on the young angel as he proclaims "Are you saying you were in league with Pyrrhon the whole time?!" "Oh please, why would I ever ally myself with such a loon…Are you seriously too dense to figure it out, Pitty?" Hades tries to press the issue further, but Riku quickly gets defensive and proclaims "Shut up Hades, we have a more pressing issue to address here."

"Yeah! What kind of rat tricks an angel, Pyrrhon?!" Pit proclaims, clearly not recognizing the bigger problem at hand here. "What?! I can't hear you over all this AWESOME!" Pyrrhon proclaims with so much joy in his voice as he uses his powers in combination with the Aurum drones to start wiping out the Forces of Nature and Underworld troops while summoning more ships from the depths of the fortress to put even more pressure on the planet.

"Ugh, this is ridiculously intense!" Pit exclaims as the Aurum drones continue to fire upon him, and even Riku was starting to sweat as the projectiles built up the damage across his body from all sides. As the battlefield was filled with destruction and fire, Hades' pondered "So umm…Anyone have any idea on how to take him out?" "I suppose we have no choice. This is it, my single remaining jewel." Viridi sounded rather hesitant about what she was going to do.

The drones stop coming at Pit for a moment, allowing him a chance to look up above the fortress in order to see a familiar object rapidly dropping towards the Aurum Brain's fortress. "Is that…A Reset Bomb?!" Pit proclaims in disbelief as the Reset Bomb collides with the fortress and releases it's explosion of nature upon the structure, which actually manages to shake the very depths of space itself as the shockwave goes across it. "This is getting out of control!" Pit exclaims as he braces himself from the wrath of the Reset Bomb's shockwave.

"Hahaha! Who's awesome now Pyrrhon?!" Viridi was very prideful about what she thought she had accomplished, while Riku proceeds to slap the front of his face and let out a groan of annoyance, the reason for that being made clear as the forest spawned from the Reset Bomb is quickly set on fire as Pyrrhon laughs maniacally and brags "Is that really all you got?!" "How could this happen?!" Viridi proclaims in utter confusion.

"You tried to use a bomb that creates nature against a SUN GOD! Viridi, you are seriously an idiot." Riku states, and before the goddess of nature can strike back verbally Palutena chimes in with even more dire news "I hate to say this now, but the power of flight is beginning to run out." Pit and Riku both look at the young angel's wings, where the glow surrounding them has started to turn red. With Aurum Drones returning to fight in even greater numbers, Pit was forced to fend them off while trying to ask "So what do we do now?!"

"I'm sorry Pit, but I'm going to have to get you out of there." Palutena says in a regretful tone, and after a few seconds she prepares to call the young angel back with a pillar of light. But something that has never happened before occurs, as the pillar of light fades from existence, with Pit regrettably still on the battlefield. Pit and Palutena simultaneously say "Oh no!", with Viridi wondering what was going on by asking "What's going on?"

"I can't extract him. I don't understand why." Palutena states, and Pyrrhon quickly provides an answer by stating "That's because YOU don't have an associate's degree in telepathic interference!" "Wait, you're blocking me?!" Palutena asks in a panic, but the sun god doesn't see the need to explain himself further to the goddess of light.

After a few more seconds, Pit's vision starts to get covered in red as he feels an intense heat coming from his back, which leads to him straining out of his mouth in pain "My wings are burning up!" "I'm sorry Pit, I can't take you any further! I-I have to cut off the power of flight…!" It was with great regret and hesitation that Palutena takes off the power of flight from Pit, with Riku immediately glancing at him ready to dive down and save him before Pyrrhon proclaims "Oh no you don't!"

The sun god then fires forth a large beam of solar fire from the fortress to strike Riku, consuming him with the flames to keep him in place as Pit rapidly descends towards the planet's atmosphere with Palutena proclaiming his name in a panic twice. "Mayday! Mayday! This looks like the end!" Pit proclaims as he tumbles down through the depths of space. He had but one regret on his mind as he appeared to be falling to his death "I never learned how to reeeeeead!" It was rather out-of-place considering the situation, but at least he was going to perish acting entirely as himself…

…That is, to say, if there wasn't a certain goddess of nature also covering his back. "Ugh, pull yourself together, will you? I got your back." She says, and Pit proclaims in shock her name before she explains "All you have to do it line yourself up with the platform below." Sure enough, there was a lone mass of rock below Pit's path, and the young angel naturally did his best to ensure that he lands on that platform. Sure the impact with the rock was hard, but at least he wasn't dead.

Two Nutskis then move beside the rock and start to move it forward through space, followed by Pit slowly rising to his feet while groaning in pain. "I'm so glad you're alive Pit!" Palutena exclaims merrily, and her tone of voice suggested she had momentarily been crying. While brushing some dirt off of his chin the young angel inquires "I don't get it Viridi, why did you save my life?" "There's nothing to get! Just shut your yapper and get ready to fight!" Viridi quickly dodges the question to try and get Pit to focus on the Aurum battle.

A moment or so later, Riku lands on the platform behind Pit, placing himself on his knees with a bit of smoke surrounding his body. "…I got to remind myself that despite his behavior, Pyrrhon is still a god, and I am completely incapable of fighting back against his solar energies." Riku mentions as some Aurum Drones start to approach the platform. As the young angel takes a moment to look back at him, Riku remarks "…Pit, you'll have to give me a few seconds to rest up. Just do what you can to fend off the Aurum for now."

"Urgh, I'll try my best." Pit then swings his right hand out and uses the Aurum Palm to fend off drones, leaping around to the best of his ability on his small platform while dodging attacks from the Aurum as well. As he dealt with the Aurum, Palutena reminded everyone of how dire the situation was by explaining "By invading our land, the Aurum have declared war on all of us. And with Pyrrhon on their side, they've become even more powerful! If we don't defeat them today, we may not have a tomorrow."

"Ugh, do you ever get tired of being such a nerd? All you need is spectacled glasses and a twenty-sided dice." Viridi, tactful as always, chose to mock the goddess of light for a moment, but Palutena replies by stating playfully "My X-Ray specs allow me to see your ignorance." "Yeah yeah, enough with the lame comedy routine. It's time for us to strike!" Viridi exclaims with all of her might.

However, Pit finds himself needing to mention "There's really not much space to fight on here…" "Picky picky! Maybe this will suit His Majesty a little better." Viridi, upon saying this, has the Nutskis pull the platform out from underneath the two heroes' body that causes them to be dropped onto a MUCH bigger platform carried by more Nutskis. "Thank you very much!" Pit exclaims in a delighted tone, and Riku couldn't help but state "…You may be a fool Viridi, but you can be nice when you need to be."

"It seems Viridi has also donated some of her troops to help carry this platform. But a bigger platform means more enemies can land on it, so watch out!" Palutena warns the two heroes, and Riku lifts himself up slightly while commenting "Palutena, I'm guessing the Three Sacred Treasures aren't an option right now? We are fighting a god, after all…" "Nope, not while Pyrrhon's telepathic interference is going on." The goddess of light admits.

"Then when I recover, I'll fly straight down to Skyworld and grab them for Pit. He'll be outmatched against Pyrrhon otherwise." Riku's suggestion is shot down by Palutena quickly, and she explains to him "Sorry Riku, but we can't take any risks now. You two need to stay together…You're the only ones who can stop Pyrrhon and the Aurum once and for all." "I guess I can understand that…" Riku says, and with another deep breath he rises up onto his feet and draws his sword.

"Though I'm not feeling 100% back up to speed, I'll try and contribute however I can, Pit." Riku remarks as the two stand back-to-back with each other, and the young angel swings his right arm out and proclaims "We're not going to let the Aurum take this planet! Everyone is counting on us!" "It's not just this Earth that's in danger. Every Earth I've ever visited, along with all other planets that house sentient life will be threatened if they aren't stopped here…I hate to put this much pressure on you Pit, but if we ignore the scale of this threat…" "No, I get it Riku, I really do. Come on Viridi, take us straight to Pyrrhon!" Pit and Riku share their views on the threat of this invasion while combating the Aurum drones that strike at them.

They work together to the best of their abilities, with one attack from Pit sometimes putting a drone in the perfect position for Riku to punch it forward through several other drones with a well-timed punch of air. When the ships start coming after their platform, Riku slices through their sides to allow them to slip on through without being sandwiched between the ships. "My children can only go so fast Pit, just be patient and keep up the offensive!" Viridi exclaims in response to Pit's earlier remark once the group had a moment to breathe.

"Hahahaha! I see you're still hard at work!" Pyrrhon suddenly proclaims from the sanctity of his new fortress, and after Pit proclaims his name to uphold tradition in these situations the sun god says "Pyrrhon Creed Number 427: Hard work should always be rewarded! Which is why I got a present. From me. To destroy you. It's Omega Super Deluxe Pyroblaster Time!" The center of the Aurum Brain's fortress then glows a bright red, with a beam of solar fire rapidly approaching the platform the two heroes were on a moment later.

"Whoa!" "Hold on Pit, this is going to get rough!" Viridi proclaims in response to the young angel's surprise, and with a command of her troops she tilts the platform upward at the front in order to protect Pit and Riku from the Pyroblaster, which sears the bottom of the platform and makes it tremble in the face of the sun god's might. The two heroes have to clasp onto the platform with both hands to avoid getting flung off, but the Nutskis helping out are not so lucky and end up perishing the immediate second they are struck by the flames.

Once the Pyroblaster fades out of sight, the platform stabilizes, but is now floating helplessly out in space. "Whew, I'm glad the two of you survived, but I can't say the same for my troops…" Viridi mourns the lost of her children for a moment, while Palutena remarks in a sympathetic tone "The Forces of Nature sacrificed themselves for your survival…" "I know, I feel terrible about this…" Pit says while grasping one of his arms and having a melancholy expression on his face.

"We have to keep pressing on. Thankfully, I have prepared back-up for this moment!" The platform below Riku and Pit's feet then cracks apart as Palutena mentions this, and the two fall towards another rock platform that is being carried by two bulky, armored, dark-skinned soldiers. "The Centurions?!" Pit exclaims in a tone of utter surprise as he lands on the platform, with one of the Centurions commenting in a respectful matter "Glad to see that you are safe captain!"

As Pit looks around and sees smaller Centurions flying around with bows in their hands for fighting, he remarks in a concerned tone of voice "Lady Palutena, they shouldn't be getting involved, this is too much for them!" "Pit, how else do you plan to make it to Pyrrhon? Riku's got to keep his energy up for the battle ahead, before you try suggesting he move the platform for you both." Palutena inquires.

"We will keep you safe captain! Your mission is to defeat Pyrrhon and eliminate the Aurum forces! We shall dedicate our energy and resources to help you reach that goal!" One of the Centurions mentions with heavy dedication in his voice, followed by Pit hesitantly saying "O-Ok then. Then let's move out, troops!" The Centurions then start to carry the platform towards the fortress, only for them to find that the passage the two heroes took before has been set aflame, making entrance impossible.

"We'll have to find another way in." Palutena remarks, and the Centurions immediately change course to scour around the outside of the Aurum Brain's fortress. Along the way, Pyrrhon exclaims "Boy, you just really won't give up, will ya?!" "Of course not! Pit Creed 741: Giving up is never an option!" The young angel proclaims enthusiastically, while Riku takes a more serious approach as he asks "Serious question here Pyrrhon. What are you even planning to do with the power of the Aurum on your side?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Pyrrhon's swift response surprised the two heroes, with the sun god's explanation proving to be even more surprising as he goes into great detail about what he plans to do. "First, I think I'll take over Skyworld and convert it into Pyrrhon World, a super-awesome theme park with giant statues of my likeness scattered around that the citizens will be required to worship whenever they pass by them. Then I think I'll take over the Underworld and make it into a beach resort, and finally I'll burn down all the trees and use the Aurum to create an utopia where the humans will worship me until the oxygen of the planet runs out. After that I'll just go to another planet and start things over again!"

"…Y-You actually thought this over for a while, didn't you?" Pit murmurs out as the platform he's on starts to head into a cybernetic blue tunnel. "Of course WE did. Hahaha, you think WE would get all of this power and not use it for OUR-selves?!" As Pyrrhon mocks Pit for thinking he lacked foresight, there were a couple moments where the sun god's voice sounded strangely robotic. "Umm, is something up with your voice?" Pit asks.

"Of course not! I'm feeling better than I ever have before!" Pyrrhon proclaims, and after being completely silent about Pyrrhon's plan for the last few seconds the three deities state in disbelief one after the other. "Pit, I will not have my domain turned into a second-rate theme park! I want you to kick his butt and kick it hard!" "Burning down all the trees?! That's worse than anything any human has ever done! Let me at him, I'll wring his hot and stubborn little neck!" "A beach resort? Hmm, you know, I like your business plan, Pyrrhon. Perhaps we could enter negotiations and work together to make this possible?"

"Hahaha, sorry, but I don't work with failures. Perhaps if you were even HALF as awesome as I was I'd consider it!" Pyrrhon completely rejects Hades' offer with nonchalance, and the Lord of the Underworld gets rather serious in an instant as he demands of the two heroes "If you two don't completely obliterate him down to the last atom, I will be very, VERY disappointed in you." "Don't need to tell us that twice!" Pit exclaims while pumping his fist forward, when all of a sudden his bravado is halted along with the platform due to a heavy influx of Aurum Drones.

By this point the tunnel's color has become dark red, giving the place a rather foreboding atmosphere that also shows that the heroes were very close to the center of the fortress at this point. "One final wave until Pyrrhon. Let's take them down together Pit!" Riku says, accidentally showing excitement in his tone due to the high adrenaline he's getting from this battle, and Pit actually picks up on this while he's taking down the Aurum drones by commenting "Wait a second, are you actually feeling happy about this battle?!"

Riku flinches for a minute after slicing down an Aurum Fire Wyrm, and then after a brief stutter at his own mistake he says in a stoic tone "N-No, I'm taking this battle seriously. Whatever gave you that idea, Pit?" The young angel just chuckled in response, and then he went back to focusing on the Aurum, doing his very best to make sure that not even a single Centurion is lost, a miracle he manages to perform perfectly by the time the onslaught of Aurum is brought to an end.

The Centurions then drag the platform through the final stretch of tunnel, which glows brighter to indicate that Pyrrhon's radiate flames were at the very end. "You're almost there you two. Take him down!" "Halt. Halt. Stay Away. Stay Away." Pyrrhon suddenly talks again, but this time he sounded a lot more cold and robotic, and Pit remarks "I knew it! Something's up with Pyrrhon!" "No Pit, I'm pretty certain he's always been this weird."

Palutena makes a joke at the sun god's expense, but the truth of the matter was that something was very wrong with Pyrrhon by the time the two heroes were carried back into the center of the fortress. The Aurum Brain still existed in the center of the room, but when the two heroes looked at it they found Pyrrhon strapped to the front of it with his eyes looking dull and lifeless and a strange cybernetic symbol stretched across his chest like a virus. Pyrrhon spasms about as his fire surrounds the Aurum Brain, and he says in a rather robotic manner "01101011011010010110110001101100..." Which roughly translated to "KILL".

"Pyrrhon? What are you doing?!" Pit exclaims in a puzzled tone of voice as he turns to face the corrupted sun god. As he prepares to fight, four pillars suddenly shoot up around the Aurum Brain, each one containing an orb of green energy in the center that shoots forth a beam of blue light that covers the Aurum Brain and Pyrrhon in a perfect shield of cybernetic design. As Pit grits his teeth he piercingly proclaims to the sun god "Are you really controlling the Aurum?! Or are they controlling you?!"

"I…I…I will not be controlled!" Pyrrhon tries to put resistance against the Aurum Brain, but in a surprising moment the brain speaks through the sun god's lips in order to state "WE WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED. INTRUDER MUST BE PURGED. WE MUST CONSUME ALL." "It's just as you suspected Pit, the Aurum Brain has taken over Pyrrhon's mind and body." Palutena remarks in an unsurprised tone.

"Pit, forget about Pyrrhon's state of being. We need to take down this barrier, so attack the green nodes!" Riku mentions to get the young angel unfocused off of his enemy, and after the teenage Overlord kicks off of the platform and takes flight to go after the nodes on the other side of the room Pit nods his head and turns around to fire a charged shot at the closest node. Meanwhile, the deities begin to hold a conversation between themselves about the current situation.

"Just like bugs, the Aurum are powerful as a swarm, but not very bright." Hades remarks, with Palutena following up by saying "They're like moths drawn to the flame of battle. They live only to consume and destroy, like…hungry moths." "WE WILL MULTIPLY. WE MUST BE ALL." The Aurum Brain states through Pyrrhon right afterwards.

"In that sense, they're pretty much like any other living creature. They're concerned with their own survival and propagation. Each species influences the other, and THAT is the cycle of life! But this…This is just too much. It's too destructive and too unnatural!" Viridi says with plenty of anger directed towards the aliens in that last sentence of hers. "Well, they ARE an alien species. Of course they're not natural." Palutena remarks sarcastically.

"Then I guess Pit and I are going to have to put an end to them once and for all." Riku remarks after he has destroyed two nodes and landed back on the platform just in time to slam his foot against the ground to create a rock wall big enough to stop one of the Pyro Snakes the Aurum Brain sends at the two heroes via Pyrrhon's powers. By that point Pit had taken care of the other two nodes, dropping the barrier and allowing them both to start attacking the Aurum Brain itself.

"Pit, if I can make a suggestion, it'd probably be a better idea to attack the Aurum Brain instead of Pyrrhon, since if we can cause enough damage to it…" "Then it's grip on Pyrrhon will be broken! …But wait, won't Pyrrhon still attack us?" Pit's insightful remark causes Riku to pause and think for a moment before he replies "Maybe Pyrrhon was actually corrupted by the Aurum Brain, and he was serious when he planned to fry the brain to bits. I honestly can't tell what this guy's deal is, nor can I tell whether he was on our side from the start or not."

"It's a risk you're going to have to take. I doubt the Aurum Brain has repaired itself after you last fought it, so now would be the time to deal with it!" Palutena urges the two heroes on for battle, and Pit remarks as he starts firing at the brain "Can we even destroy this thing?! It seems completely unstoppable!" "You have to try Pit. I'll defend you from Pyrrhon's attacks, and you do whatever you can to attack the brain!" Riku states, immediately saving Pit and himself from the ring of fire collapsing inward by using a platform of wind to raise them both into the air for a moment.

While Pit was in the air he fires a rapid-fire of charged shots from the Aurum Palm at the Aurum Brain, and once they land on the platform they are greeted by another Pyro Snake from Pyrrhon. The teenage Overlord pulls up a large chunk of the platform up to block the attack, and as the rock is broken up by the impact of the Pyro Snake he holds his right hand out and sends the fragments of stone at the Aurum Brain in the form of shrapnel that fails to pierce the glass sphere but deals significant damage.

As more and more damage is done to the Aurum Brain, the intelligence is surrounded by brighter flames and the intensity of it's attacks increase. Riku tries to keep up alternating between attack and defense while Pit stands behind him and fires his own attacks at the Aurum Brain, leading to the teenage Overlord to occasionally duck to avoid getting hit as well, since the young angel's aim wasn't perfect in this tense situation. Forced to create more powerful defenses to deal with the Pyro Snakes and fire rings, Riku finds his energy draining rather quickly as some of the solar energy also slips through and strikes him.

"_Resist the urge to use your Light Form Riku…Pit deserves to finish the Aurum Brain off himself. This is his planet to protect, after all…" _The teenage Overlord thinks to himself as he bends down and places his hands against the ground for support, sweat trickling heavily across all parts of his skin. "WE WON'T BE STOPPED. WE ARE ETERNAL." The Aurum Brain states mechanically through the sun god, and with one hand grasped on his elbow Pit raised the Aurum Palm up and proclaimed "Go back to space, Aurum!"

With one last charge shot, Pit fires at the Aurum Brain, dealing a decisive blow that causes it to roar out in pain through Pyrrhon "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!" The sun god's head then limps lower, and for a few seconds everything is silent. The teenage Overlord remarks "…We're not done here yet" and sure enough some flames start to erupt from around Pyrrhon's body, causing Palutena to command the Centurions to get Pit and Riku out of there before they are struck.

"We seem to be doing this a lot recently!" Pit remarks as panic sets in on his mind, and Palutena says "It really burns you up, doesn't it?" The joke wasn't appreciated, as the young angel proclaims with a worried expression "Now's not the time for that!" But of course, the two heroes manage to make it out in time with the help of the brave Centurions, and a large blast of fire launches forth from the tunnel of the Aurum Brain's fortress.

From a safe distance away, Pit and Riku watch as the fortress starts to turn away from the planet thanks to Pyrrhon's flames, and after a few seconds the fortress moves forth, signifying that the sun god had regained control of himself. "It looks like Pyrrhon is taking the Aurum to the other side of the galaxy." Palutena says after a sigh of relief, and Pit proclaims victoriously after pumping his fist into the air "Yeah! Pyrrhon was good after all…I think! Aw whatever, goodbye space scum!"

The teenage Overlord glances at Pit, and it seems his enthusiasm rubbed off on him slightly as he couldn't help but crack a tiny smile while the young angel wasn't looking. But then he went back to his serious expression as he rose to his feet and drew out his sword, even though the Aurum fleet and islands had all been finished off and there seemed to be no more reason to battle. "Good work everyone! Applause all around to Pitty and Ricky for their brave work here today! I say we take a nice day break before we go back to trying to kill each other, hmm?" Hades' says in his usual nonchalance.

"Fair enough. Now that the Aurum are done for, we can return to taking you and the Underworld Army down, Hades. After all, you and humans are thre-…Unngh…" Palutena, after saying something rather odd for herself, groans in pain, which Pit takes note of as he turns around to congratulate Riku for the job well done. "Lady Palutena, are you alright? What were you about to say about the humans?" Pit's inquiry was met with a puzzled response from the goddess of light "I-I don't know what you're talking about Pit, I was just saying we need to fight the Underworld Army again. I'm going to call you back now…"

"Wait, Riku, why do you have your sword out still?" Pit then addresses the matter of the teenage Overlord's strange action as two pillars of light come down to take them back. Riku hangs his head slightly and says to Pit quietly "Pit…Please, it is crucial that you trust what I am going to do once we get back to Skyworld." The young angel tilts his head in confusion, while Riku thinks to himself _"Forgive me Palutena, but I hope I do not bring harm to you in order to stop that creature." _He is then called back to Skyworld alongside Pit, for another threat needed to be dealt with immediately…

_Next Time: Chaos Incarnate_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 18: The Ring of Chaos**

…_._

…

…_.."Wa- up…."_

…_."Wake up."_

"_Hrmm…?" "Your story is not over yet. Heheh, not even the pages of this particular tale of yours have been completed, young Riku. It's time for you to wake up, and face the world as it is now." _

Riku, after hearing this mysterious voice interacting with his own unconscious thoughts, wakes up and finds himself in the middle of absolute darkness. He can see nothing in his surroundings, not even his own body. Actually, he can't even FEEL a single part of his body. It wasn't that he was numb, there was just nothing there. All he had to himself were his thoughts, and his voice. "W-What's going on here…?" He felt somewhat dizzy, as if he had just recovered from something very devastating.

As he would soon find out though, he was not alone in this black abyss. "Urgh…Where am I?" It was Pit's voice that spoke out, but he seemed to be unaware of Riku's presence in this empty void as he went on to say "Lady Palutena? Riku? Are either of you there? The last thing I remember is defeating the Aurum. But then…Everything's so fuzzy after that…" "Pit…Is that you?" Riku inquires as he tries to get a grip on his surroundings.

"Riku? …So you're present and accounted for…But what about Lady Palutena…?" As Pit seemingly attempts to seek out the goddess of light, him and Riku both start to see more of the world around them, a ring of gold marked with strange crimson letters appearing in place. "Hey, what's that? Is it…a ring? My head is all kinds of foggy right now…And why is the name Chaos Kin stuck in my brain?"

As the name Pit mentions comes up, Riku suddenly feels a terrible chill creep through his body. This sensation was accompanied by him starting to remember what had happened between the end of the Aurum and now, and he began to murmur out "No…No…This can't be happening…" He goes unheard by Pit, and the ring they two of them see is suddenly swept up by a small human hand. With this action, the entire world is revealed to the two heroes.

The ring was picked up on the grassy outskirts of a human village, but the place seemed to be under attack as evidenced by the plumes of fire rising up from the village. The skies were filled with grey clouds, and there was something about the atmosphere of the world that seemed incredibly off. Anyways, after the ring was picked up, Riku and Pit felt a shake through whatever remained of their forms, and find that the ring has been picked up by a human girl that couldn't have been any more than six years old.

She looked clean and had on a pretty white dress, with her eyes curiously looking down at the ring as you'd expect from someone her age. "What's going on here?! Either I'm going crazy or…I'M THE RING!" Pit exclaims, and Riku tells him right afterwards "Not just you…We're both inside of this ring!" He sounded somewhat unhinged, which was enough of a change in attitude for Pit to take notice, while meanwhile the little girl looked the ring over and prepared to place it on her right middle finger.

"I don't know what's going on, but we have to try SOMETHING! Come on…move!" The ring shrinks down to fit the girl's finger, and suddenly Pit and Riku both find themselves seeing the world through the eyes of this little girl. The girl walks forward innocently, and in surprise Pit proclaims "She's moving! I'm…I'm moving her! So…I can control anyone who wears this ring? I hope she doesn't mind if I borrow her feet for just a little bit…I have to find out what happened."

As Pit starts to move the little girl through the grassy outskirts of the nearby village, it doesn't take long before the girl is suddenly forced to a stop, and the young angel is greatly confused by this. "Huh? She stopped?" He inquires, and Riku quickly says to him "You can't be serious! This seriously can't be happening! …We're not going anywhere else until you tell me what the hell you were thinking back there Pit!" The teenage Overlord was angered, and his force of will was enough to override Pit's control on the girl for the time being.

"Riku, what are you talking about? A-Are you ok? I know this looks bad, but there has to be a logical explanation for all of this." Pit remarks, and Riku immediately snaps at him and says "You're just like Palutena in this regard! I told you to trust me, and yet you pushed me out of the way when I was about to end that menace's life!" The young angel takes pause for a moment, and then some of his memories start to return of what happened after they defeated the Aurum.

"Hey…That's right! The moment we came back to Skyworld you tried to attack Lady Palutena! Just what were you thinking?! She hadn't done anything wrong!" Now Pit was the one expressing anger, while Riku scowled and remarked "I wasn't trying to attack Palutena! …You know what, forget it. You've had your chance to trust what I have to say. If you want to figure anything else out from here on out, then you're going to have to do it on your own!"

"No! You owe me an explanation here! Lady Palutena isn't responding to either of us, we're trapped in this ring, and nothing feels right anymore! In fact, why are you using your powers to fly us out of here?!" Pit exclaims in disbelief of Riku's behavior, and the teenage Overlord bluntly tells him "In case you haven't noticed…NEITHER OF US HAVE OUR BODIES! All of my powers are connected to my body…Oh god…That means that my body is out there…Damn it all!"

"So both of us are powerless…Great. As if this day couldn't get any worse." Pit says, and Riku grits what could be considered his teeth in this void and scowls while saying "You would be wise to be ready to take that back once you see what's awaiting you. For now, just get this girl to the nearby village and work you're way out from there." Riku then lets go of his control of the girl, allowing Pit to continue onward while telling the teenage Overlord "Easy for you to say. I feel like I'm wearing a suit of armor…that's too small."

After making it to the top of a pathway, the two heroes notice a couple Centurions descending into the town in chaos. "Centurions? That town does look like it's in trouble…Lady Palutena must have sent them to help. Maybe we can do something to help as well…I mean, I hate to put this little girl in danger, but we have no other options…" But due to all of his focus on the town, he fails to notice a stick in the ground, and the girl trips over it and ends up losing the ring from her middle finger.

The ring rolls forward for a bit while Pit starts panicking, but thankfully for him there was a cute little white and brown dog nearby sniffing his nose along the ground until he reached the ring. Curious is as curious does, the dog picked up the ring into his mouth, which was apparently more than enough to allow Pit to take control of it. "I…guess we're a dog now. This is getting weirder and weirder…" Pit then has the dog turn it's head around, and finds that the little girl has vanished entirely.

"That's weird, where did that little girl go? I hope she's safe…" Pit remarks, but then has the dog turn towards the town before he sprints off through the land, all the while warning himself "I gotta be careful not to drop the ring. So that means no more mouth breathing. And no crazy barking. And no eating delicious garbage off the ground…Not that I would, of course." Pit's attempts at humor showed that he was trying to keep himself sane, but Riku didn't hear most of it as he was too focused on his own fears.

"_Three years…three years of my life gone…I was all too prepared to end the Chaos Kin…Why did this happen to us…Takashi…Sodenko…Can you hear me?" _The two dragons did not respond to him at all, making him feel even a greater sense of dread than he did before. He felt like he was quivering, and as he explained to himself _"My body is out there…with all of my powers intact…And the command of Sodenko and Takashi if that damn bug figures out that they exist…How has this planet not been burned to nothing?"_

"_I'm sorry humans of this world…I'm sorry Palutena…And I'm especially sorry to you Pit for allowing this to go this far…I know I can't run away now, but I wouldn't even if the possibility was available to me. I have to fix this mistake, but first Pit needs to get his body back so we can find my own." _As Riku kept to his melancholic behavior, Pit had the dog enter through the front gate of the down. There they saw that the place was in ruins, with not a single human in sight…

Worst of all, it didn't take long for Pit to notice something bizarre in the sky. It was his own body, using a bow he'd never seen before to shoot dark arrows rapidly towards the ground, and some painful screams can be heard coming from afar. "W-Was that…me?! Oh, man…This can't be happening! Who am I attacking? And who's controlling ME? Everything's gone off the rails!" Pit then has the dog keep dashing forward after these questions plague his mind, followed by him asking Riku "Now what am I supposed to do? Take myself down?"

But he was reminded that the teenage Overlord wasn't going to provide any advice to him, and with a bitter turn of his head he remarks "Forget it, I really don't have any other choice!" Even with both heroes' on the edge of confusion and despair, they knew they had to press on and fight the good fight. In a way, Riku was jealous of the young angel's persistence, but it's also a trait that made him a hero worthy to protect this world.

After slipping past Centurions and making their way through an abandoned building via some small holes and a couple broken stone beams, Pit has the dog slip through a hole in a door and comes across a sight that's rather intriguing from his point of view. Fending off three Centurions with nothing but a gigantic, silver broadsword was a middle-aged male human with a rather muscular build. He had long, dirty black ruffled hair, a tattered black sleeveless shirt with plenty of tattoos on his arms and chest, and roughed up black pants and shoes.

He was certainly not a man many would want to mess with, especially once he shows off his strength by swinging that sword around with ease and cutting down the three Centurions like they were flies pestering him. "Magnus?! Why is he fighting the Centurions?!" Pit proclaims the name of the human in utter surprise. He then proclaims "Magnus! Over here!" Thinking that the human would hear him through the mouth of a dog, let alone forgetting that he is trapped inside of this ring.

As Magnus swings his sword over shoulder triumphantly and starts to walk off, Pit proclaims "Wait! Don't go!" He then has the dog dash after the human while stating "You need to tell me what's going on!" Having the dog leap atop Magnus' back, Pit looks down and sees the human's irritated expression for a moment before he starts shaking the dog's head around and saying happily "Hey! Hey! How's it going?"

The dog's body is then lowered off to the right side of Magnus' puzzled face, where Pit tries to nudge the ring towards him "Listen, you gotta take this ring. Go on! Take it!" With his personal space invaded by this mutt, Magnus nonetheless feels compelled to take the ring from the dog's grasp, allowing the beast to let go of him and run free once more. Magnus holds the ring up close to his face and tries to examine it's worth while Pit urges him with "Yes! Great! Now put it on your finger!"

But after a few seconds of looking at it he flicks it over his right shoulder, with Pit exclaiming out of desperation and disbelief "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! No, no, no no! Pick it back up!" Magnus hauls his broadsword over his right shoulder and starts to walk off, and in a very begging tone "Where are you going? Don't go! Don't go! Put the ring on! You can always pawn it! It's a little slobbery, but I'm sure it's worth a lot!" For a moment, Magnus glances back at the ring, but then starts to walk back off again. "Come on, don't make me beg! PLEASE take the ring!" One last remark from Pit led to him slumping against the 'floor' of the black abyss, as though his hopes were slowly fading away.

It was at this point that Magnus felt a strange tug on his back, a pure and holy touch whose origin he did not know. "Hmm?" He grumbled out deeply, and then he turned around and went back to the ring, picking it up and placing it on his left hand without a second thought. Pit immediately had control of Magnus' body, and used it to perform a very unfitting fist pump into the air with both arms while proclaiming "Woo-hoo! Thank you Magnus!"

"What's that shrill little voice? …Wait, are you that angel?" Magnus' gruff voice echoes through the abyss Pit and Riku were trapped in via the ring, suggesting that he'd been implanted there as well, which was rather strange since the little girl and the dog didn't end up in here. "Neat! We can talk to each other!" Pit naturally ignores the annoyance and surprise in Magnus' voice now that things were starting to look up for him.

Pit then starts to charge through the town while dragging Magnus' sword with him in the grasp of both hands, and the human states angrily "First you take over my body, and now I have to listen to your yapping? Great." "Don't worry, I'll be super extra careful with your body." Pit remarks, followed by Riku stating in a reassuring manner "Sorry it had to end up like this, Magnus."

"Wait, two voices?! There's two people inhabiting my body?! I'm not a hotel you can just rent out as you please, what's going on here?!" Magnus' understandably freaks out after hearing another person, especially since he didn't recognize the second voice at all. Pit responds on the teenage Overlord's part by stating "I don't know! Seems like only yesterday when you and I were fighting together."

"Yesterday? Try THREE YEARS, buddy." Magnus' shocking bit of news causes Pit to stop moving his body for a moment, and Pit freaks out slightly while exclaiming "WHAT?! Three years? That's impossible! You have to tell me what's going on!" "Oh no you don't! Not until you tell me what's up with that second voice!" Magnus makes his demands, and for the sake of speeding things along as the mention of the three years lost echoes inside of his mind Riku states "S-Sorry about this Magnus. My name is Riku, I've been helping Pit out after he met you at Gaol's Castle."

"Seriously? Another human helping out angel face and that goddess of his? What's your story kid, you sound too young to be fighting." Magnus inquires bluntly, and Riku replies "We don't have time for my story. All you need to know is that I'm pretty strong and that I'm on your side." "Hmph, can't say I doubt either of that, considering you've been helping out angel face here. But seriously, you don't know what kind of trouble has been going on, have you?" Magnus directs his question towards Pit after acknowledging Riku's trustworthiness.

"Please Magnus, I need some answers." Pit politely requests, and Magnus bluntly states "Fine, how's this for starters? You've become the enemy of all mankind!" "What?! Stop messing with me." Pit found that bit of news very hard to believe, and Magnus states to him after pausing in surprise "So this is news to you…"

"Remember the war between the Forces of Nature, Underworld, and Palutena's Army? Just when it seemed like the war was over, everyone in Palutena's army vanished." Magnus says, and Pit exclaims "Vanished?! Where'd we go?!" And once more Magnus is blunt in telling him "Beats me. But your absence let the Underworld keep attacking us humans. Then you all reappeared. But instead of helping us, you started going after us too! So now we humans have the Underworld and Palutena's army trying to wipe us out! No one knows what happened. Did your goddess just lose her mind?"

"Don't ask me. I've been a ring and Riku isn't telling me anything. But I know we have to do something. There must be some way we can reason with her." Pit says, and Magnus then mentions "Well, maybe YOU can. I'm not even sure if she's controlling her own army anymore." "You wouldn't be wrong with that assumption, Magnus." Riku comments.

"Seriously Riku, not now. First things first, that attacking the town? That wasn't me." Pit comments, and Magnus says in a puzzled tone "So…your mind is here, but your body is over there destroying stuff? Well that's just great, tell that to all the humans it just killed!" "Look, I didn't exactly plan it this way, ok?!" Pit exclaims.

"Well whether you did or not, there's nothing I can do for you now. You've got my body. So you're going to have to get rid of the other Pit. Ironically, that's why I was here in the first place." Magnus says, putting all of his faith into Pit's abilities. "Well, if that's our only option, then that's the plan!" "Careful with my body though, I'm going to need it later." Magnus makes just that one request before Pit moves on with his body once more.

As they head through the ruined down and deal with the Centurions that get in the way, much to Pit's disdain, Riku says to Magnus "…There's something I'm hesitant to ask here. Have you come across my body at all?" "I don't even know what you look like kid, so you're going to have to give me some idea of what you're talking about." Magnus remarks, and the teenage Overlord says "If you saw me at all, you'd notice my double-helix sword at the very least."

"Double-helix sword? …Nope, can't say I've seen your body in that case. Angel face is the only person from Palutena's side besides the Centurions that have been attacking the humans." Magnus replies, and this leads to Riku thinking to himself _"…Seriously? What's preventing the Chaos Kin from using my body to attack the humans? …I shouldn't be questioning this, I need to be thankful that my mistake isn't allowing another demonic creature to commit genocide on the planet."_

The teenage Overlord then lets out a sigh of relief, followed by Pit remarking "You know Riku, maybe you'd be better off controlling Magnus' body. I mean…you are experienced with swords." Riku immediately replies in a docile manner "But I've never wielded a broadsword. Besides, you've seen Magnus fight before, so you're more used to his style. Don't get cold feet, you're the only one who can defeat yourself since I'm out of a body."

As this conversation unfolds, Pit is suddenly forced to make Magnus' body leap to the right to avoid getting smashed by a gigantic burning boulder, all the while proclaiming "Whoa!" The ring is shaken up, and after Magnus growls he says "Oh great, she sent out her Juggernauts as well. She must really want me dead." "Juggernauts?! But those were only in the development stage last I heard!" Pit exclaims in disbelief as he picks Magnus' body back up and notices the mechanical, crossbow wielding Juggernaut at the end of the hallway.

"Well, she must have finished developing them, what can I say?" Magnus dryly remarks, and as Pit carefully runs at the Juggernaut from the center to avoid the rain of arrows from the crossbows he remarks "Lady Palutena started developing them as a defensive measure after the Hewdraw attack. I'll be careful not to get hit by one of their boulders, Magnus…" "I'd appreciate that." Magnus replies with.

Magnus' sword is strong enough to clobber the Juggernaut into oblivion, and Riku remarks afterwards "So I guess the Juggernauts are like the Clubberskulls. Powerful, but with one easily exploited weakness." "Clubberskulls? Oh yeah, I've seen a few of those around. They're definitely a pain in the butt. Hades' sure doesn't pull his punches against us…" Magnus remarks rather clamly.

"How do you even know about Hades?" Pit inquires as he gets a move on through town, and Magnus remarks bluntly "How can anyone NOT know about the guy? The jerk loves to pop up every now and then to taunt us humans! And we can't ever get him to shut up because he's holed up in the Underworld." "…I can relate with you so much, Magnus." Pit says.

"Hey, ease up on the touchy-feely stuff angel face, and stay focused." Magnus quickly tries to divert the subject, and Pit moves on while Riku remarks "Seriously Magnus, whether it was because of greed or your conscience nagging at you, I don't care…But by picking up that ring, you have saved this world and many others besides it." "…Can't say I know how to respond to that." Magnus replies calmly. "Then don't. Just thought I'd let you know that we all appreciate the help…" It was strange for Riku to say that, even though he had no clue where his own body was at the moment.

But that was not an obstacle that Riku had to worry about at the moment. Instead, there was one last thing getting in the way of Pit's path to the end of town, and that was one delectable looking hot springs. "Hot springs! I'm taking full advantage of you this time!" As Pit jumps Magnus' body into the hot springs, the healing effects start to take hold, and Riku holds no objections to this action after all the stress Pit must have been enduring.

"Huh, hot springs don't usually have an affect on humans…You must be rubbing off on me." Magnus remarks in a tone of surprise. "Hehe, I guess so." Pit says in turn. After a few moments of enjoyable relaxation, Pit carries on through one last wave of both Centurions and a Juggernaut before he finds himself at an outlook past the edge of town. It was there that his own body descended from the sky with an emotionless expression, the eyes devoid of their pupils as he carried the Darkness Bow in his left hand.

Pit's body rises up without saying a word and then aims the bow at Magnus. Pit proclaims in anger towards whatever force was controlling him "Hey! Give me back my body!" "You have no choice…You'll have to take him out…WITHOUT killing him." Magnus advises, and Riku in turn says confidently towards the young angel "It's your own body. No matter who is controlling it, you know exactly how to defeat it Pit. Magnus, it'd be best if we let Pit concentrate on this one."

"Fair enough kid. Good luck to you, Pit." Magnus uses the young angel's name respectfully, and then drops into silence so Pit can face himself in a battle that he cannot afford to lose. Pit's body starts off by firing a large arrow of darkness from his bow, and Pit swings around the side of it using Magnus' body, just barely grazing the edge of it as he closes in on himself and brings Magnus' blade down upon his body. The impact is tough on the body as it's launched back a few feet, but the body shows no signs of pain as it quickly gets up on it's feet and retaliates with a quick few bolts of darkness while it strafes to the left around the arena.

Magnus' body takes these shots to the chest, and Magnus inside of the ring feels them all but doesn't say anything as per Riku's request. Pit then ducks under a charged shot fired from the Darkness Bow before proceeding to lift up and dash at his body, waiting until it was between him and the nearby pillar to swing Magnus' sword in an arc through the air. A direct hit to the chest sends Pit's body flying through the pillar, which was something the young angel hadn't counted on happening due to an underestimation of Magnus' strength.

But thankfully for him, Pit's body is briefly given the power of flight again to launch himself back onto the battlefield, but he retaliates against the attack by raising the Darkness Bow into the air and firing off multiple shots focused onto a ring of light much like Dark Pit once did. Pit lifts Magnus' sword up to block a vast majority of the projectiles, keeping himself from breaking from the pressure due to Magnus' bulky legs.

Once Pit's body lands back on the ground, he fires a charged shot right into Magnus' chest, pushing him back across the ground and into the last of the arrows falling from the sky. It was amazing that Magnus' body was holding up as well as it was, considering he was supposedly just a human, but Pit was in no position to complain as he recovered from the last attacks and proclaimed with all of his might "I said…GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!"

He then leaped into the air and held Magnus' sword behind him, descending rapidly while bringing the sword down with all of this body's strength. The sword collides with Pit's body, slamming him down against the ground so hard that it cracks it apart heavily. Pit pulls Magnus' sword back up and hauls it over his shoulder, look down at his body to find that it was now unconscious on the ground, but it was still looking up with it's cold, almost robotic eyes. "Alright, let's get that ring on you!" Magnus says triumphantly.

Pit then takes the ring off of Magnus' body, allowing Magnus to regain control with the ring in the grasp of his hand. He then picks up Pit's unconscious body and remarks "Let's hope this works…" Placing the ring on the right hand's pointer finger a moment later. Once he does this, he keeps Pit in his hands while the ring glows slightly, and it doesn't take long after that for Pit to suddenly spring out of Magnus' hands while pumping his fists into the air full of energy and exclaiming "I'm back in the game!"

"Well, that did the trick…" Magnus remarks with a lack of surprise in his voice as he rubs the back of his head and starts to rise to his feet. Pit then turns to face the human and says with his usual bubbliness "Thanks, Magnus!" "Eh, it was nothing…But say, what happened to that other kid?" After brushing off Pit's thanks as though his efforts didn't really amount of much, he brings up the matter of Riku's condition.

Pit then looks at his right hand and notices that the ring is still on him, but he's still in control of his body. It was at that point that Riku told him through the ring "Don't worry Pit, I'm still here. I'm just letting you have control of your body for now." Pit then looks at Magnus and says "He's still in the ring, he's just letting me have control." "Seriously? That was still possible? …Ugh, never mind about that now. What are going to do next, angel face?" Magnus asks after some annoyance regarding the ring.

"…Well, I guess I need to head back to Skyworld. But the question is…how?" Pit says as he passes by Magnus and looks towards the sky, and Magnus asks rather nonchalantly "Why don't you just fly?" Pit then looks at Magnus for a moment and explains "Flying, getting extracted from battle that's all Lady Palutena's doing…"

Looking back towards the sky, Pit swings his left fist out and exclaims "Lady Palutena! Can you hear me?! I need your help!" No response happens, and Pit exclaims even louder towards the heavens "I can't fly without you! Please, help me! Please give me the power to fly back to the heavens…and back to you!" This time, it seems, his call was heard, as a pillar of light shines down upon Pit's body with some leaves appearing around him as his wings are set aglow. Pit is then raised into the sky while Magnus remarks "I guess she must of heard you. "Whew, what a relief!" Pit exclaims as he's sent flying away from the human town, leaving Magnus behind to fend for himself.

As Pit starts to fly past the damaged town, he remarks in a very relieved tone of voice without realizing what was off with the pillar of light "I missed you, Lady Palutena! I'm so glad you're back to lead me!" "Right…About that…" A particularly familiar voice calls to Pit from afar, and the young angel remarks in a tone of utter surprise "Huh? Viridi?!"

"That's right. I'm the one controlling your flight path." Viridi remarks merrily, followed by Pit saying "Huh? How is that possible?!" "Don't you know? Anything Palutena can do, I can do better! So. Do you want my help or not?" Viridi remarks as she carries Pit towards a chaotic part of the sky where multiple tornados can be seen churning the clouds. "Actually, I was just thinking about how nice it would be to fly on my own." Pit remarks.

"Pit, just accept Viridi's help and don't complain." Riku remarks, and Viridi responds to this by saying "Yes, listen to the Elemental Overlord on this one. We're both on the same side once more, Pit." "W-Wait…You can hear Riku?" Pit says in a tone of absolute surprise, and the goddess of nature says "Of course I can! He's connected to your body because of that ring, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so…Wait! So you know everything that's been on over the last three years! Viridi, I need to know…What happened to Lady Palutena?!" Pit demands answers, and for once Viridi was not reluctant to help out as she said "I'll do you one better…I'll show you. Please fasten your seat belt. This is a nonstop flight to Skyworld!" As Pit is then carried towards the tornadoes, he is forced to use the Darkness Bow his empty body was carrying to take down both Underworld troops and Centurions that got in his way.

Along the way, Riku takes a chance to ask Viridi "Viridi, is there any chance you know what happened to my body?" The goddess of nature replies "Ugh, that's really not a subject I feel like mentioning…" "Don't tell me my body was out there killing humans!" Riku exclaims in a tone of sheer panic.

"What? No! The only one killing humans was Pit's body, the Centurions, and the Underworld Army. I pretty much gave up on trying anything because it just would've come across as overkill!" Viridi explains, and for a moment Riku can let out a sigh of relief about the situation until Viridi went on state "But if you really have to know…Your body…" Before she can fully explain herself, Pit looks up towards the clouds and notices a bright red light coming through rather quickly. "Huh?" He remarks.

The young angel is then forced to swing to the right as a beam of fire comes burning through the clouds. Narrowly, Pit also avoids getting sucked into one of the tornadoes, all the while exclaiming in a surprised tone of voice "What was that?! …Wait, that fire…Is that?!" Following through the hole burned through the clouds was the familiar sight of Riku's body, which quickly flies straight towards Pit ready to fight him.

Pit is forced to raise his Darkness Bow in defense as Riku's body approaches him and tries to cut him down with his sword. The strength of the body hadn't been dulled, and the young angel was thrown back through the air after the impact of Riku's blade against his bow. Viridi uses her powers to stall Pit's body before he is sent too far away, and the real teenage Overlord exclaims afterwards "So that's where my body went!"

"Your body has been a major pain in the butt over the last three years! Every time I've tried to send my children to retaliate against Skyworld, your body has taken them all out! Not even Phosphora or Arlon could manage to get through!" Viridi takes a moment to express some disdain at her situation the past few years, and while Riku's body robotically floats in mid-air and extends his arms out beside his head Pit remarks in a concerned tone "So we can't get through unless we take out Riku's body?!"

"Pit, calm down! I told you before, you're stronger than me! My body can't be allowed to roam free like this, so take it down! Do NOT hold back!" Riku does not hold back when he tells Pit what to do, and this is then followed up by the skies trembling as Riku's body takes the tornadoes from the sky and increases their intensity to the point that he begins swallowing in the Centurions and the Underworld Troops that were still fighting it out in the skies. He mercilessly destroyed all in his path, as the tornadoes even tore apart the very mountains residing at the bottom of the funnels.

Pit, even in the face of this powerful foe that was his friend's body, took aim with his Darkness Bow and fired a charged shot at the body while it was distracted with powering up the tornadoes. A direct hit was performed on the chest, disrupting the body's focus by making it lurch back without any noises coming from it's mouth. As this attack connected, the tornadoes died down in power, allowing Viridi a chance to send Pit flying straight towards Riku's body.

"Push him back, Pit!" She exclaimed, and the young angel took his Darkness Bow and tried to punch Riku's body square in the face with it. But the body reacted to Pit without having to raise it's head up, as it lifted it's right hand up in a split second and stopped the bow from connecting by wrapping it's fingers tightly around Pit's knuckles. It was then that the head raised up, revealing the same type of tired, pupil-less eyes that Pit's body once had.

As Pit felt his bones crunching in his hand, Riku spent a moment to look at his body, noticing that it has not aged a day and seemed relatively untouched. The teenage Overlord recalls that he should've been around 16 after the Aurum attack, which means his boy should have aged somewhat. Naturally, as Pit uses a kick to the gut to force Riku's body off of him, the teenage Overlord inquired "Viridi, why hasn't my body aged at all?"

"It's because your soul hasn't inhabited it at all for three years. A body can't age without a soul. It needs that precious spark of life to do anything, otherwise it's nothing more than a machine used for violence…" Viridi says in a rather serious tone, and as Pit takes aim with his bow despite the pain in his hand he says "Just like my body, right?" "Exactly. It was horrifying to watch that creature use your body to kill humans, Pit. That wasn't like you at all…" Viridi states.

"…Tell me more about this 'creature' later Viridi, alright?" Pit inquires as he fires another charged shot at Riku's body. But the body flies to the right out of the way, and then extends it's hand down to go for the broken up mountain debris from earlier. The debris is all gathered up into a single gigantic and compressed boulder that is flung at Pit as Riku's body flies backwards a fair distance to make things easier for himself.

The young angel is forced to narrowly glide along the edge of the boulder to avoid getting hit, all the while keeping a grip on his Darkness Bow so a charged shot can be fired the moment he gets the body into his sights. But as he passes the boulder, he is immediately struck by a swift bolt of lightning to the face, which lightly singes the skin of his right cheek and makes his body twirl back a few feet before he regains control of himself.

He then fires a few more arrows at Riku's body, all of them hitting and making him flinch in place. But then Riku's body starts thrusting it's hands out rapidly, sending bolts of lightning flying through the sky at Pit. Even with how fast the bolts went, Pit had enough forewarning to swerve past all of them and then close the gap on Riku's body, using the Darkness Bow to perform a punch against his face. This made Riku's body flinch enough for Pit to pull back and fire a close-range Darkness Bow charge shot at him. This attack proved to be just enough to throw Riku's body unconscious, with Pit proclaiming proudly with a pump of his fist into the air "I did it!" But with the body unconscious it wasn't able to maintain flight, and it began to rapidly descend towards the ground.

"Whoa!" Pit proclaims before Viridi has him rapidly descend after the body while stating "Hey! Don't let that body perish! We need him to deal with this situation!" "I know, I know!" Pit proclaims as he reaches out for Riku's body and grabs onto him by the right arm. The two are then suspended in mid-air while Pit takes his time to put the ring onto one of Riku's fingers. Like before, the ring glows brightly, but this time around it shatters apart, meaning they'd NEVER have to deal with it again.

After that, Pit waits until the pupils return to Riku's eyes and the teenage Overlord lets out a gasp of air from his mouth before he lets go, and the teenage Overlord quickly activates his flight to prevent himself from falling further. Riku then looks at Pit, and the young angel says with a smile "Now both of us have our bodies back!" Suddenly though, the teenage Overlord then reaches out and hugs Pit with both of his arms, which catches him off-guard along with Riku saying in a merrily tearful tone of voice "Thank you Pit…I'm glad I could trust you to do this…"

"Heheh…Umm…" Pit felt pretty awkward being hugged like this, and thankfully for him and Riku Viridi was there to end this warm moment by mentioning "Break it up you two! Pit can still only fly for five minutes, and we still got to get him to Skyworld!" Riku then lets go of Pit and remarks in a more serious manner "She's got a point. The time for thanks can come later. We need to get to Palutena."

"Right! Take me back up Viridi!" Pit proclaims enthusiastically, and Viridi responds "Could you be anymore bossy?! I was already planning on doing that you twit!" She was back to her more insulting tone now that things were back to normal for Pit and Riku's bodies, but this really wasn't an unexpected development. After Pit and Riku nod their heads in agreement, they fly back towards the clouds to the land of Skyworld.

Along the way, Riku grimaced in pain from behind Pit's back, remarking to himself _"Pit did more damage to my body than I thought he would…I only have enough energy to keep flying with him until he sees what happened to Palutena." "…Riku? Is that really you?" _A familiar voice calls to Riku from inside of his mind, and the teenage Overlord flinches happily in response. _"Takashi! Oh thank god nothing bad happened to you!"_

"_Unless you want to call being stuck in a coma for three years as nothing bad, then yes, I'm glad as well." _Takashi was rather blunt in what he said, and this was followed by Riku inquiring _"A coma? What happened?" "After that bug used Palutena to banish you and Pit to that ring, we both exhausted a lot of our power to make sure that your body wouldn't have access to the powers of Light and Darkness. Then we fell asleep, apparently until you came back into control of your body."_

"_Then I thank you both for keeping my body from destroying this world…Even if it did cost us both three years of our time…" _The teenage Overlord then started to think about his brother, realizing that this means it'd have been five years since he saw him, and half of that time was spent trapped in a ring. But then the white dragon Sodenko suggested to him calmly _"Would you have lost three years of your time? Hmm…last I checked, the time of the universe is connected to the Elemental Overlord because of the higher-ups. If you were unable to age due to being trapped in that ring, then that means the rest of the universe save for this world was frozen in time until you got your body back." _

"…_The universe was frozen in time for three years? …That's a pretty horrifying thought. If I hadn't been freed of the ring, then the universe would've been permanently trapped in a single moment of time." _This particular thought made Riku shiver in fright, and Sodenko remarked _"…Still, what is another three years trapped in this dimension for myself and my bother, especially after we lost 2000 years already." "Sodenko. I'm sorry…I failed to stop that bug from getting to Palutena. But I promise you, I will destroy it myself for what it has done to this world!"_

Riku's reply was filled with emotion, which made Takashi remark _"Hmph, so you're finally back to showing emotions. At least you aren't being melancholy about this whole situation." _The teenage Overlord then grasps his right hand into a fist and says _"Only while we're dealing with the Chaos Kin, Takashi…I'm going back to being stoic afterwards." _

It was at that point the conversation ended, for the two heroes managed to break their way through the clouds and ended up at Skyworld, but Pit was horrified by what he saw. Islands were strewn about through the sky, all of them looking grey and lifeless. Pit remarks in a devastated manner "What happened here?! It used to be so beautiful…" "Look at what's become of it." Viridi says as she takes Pit for a tour of the destroyed Skyworld.

There was no sun, no joy, nothing but the ruins of a beloved land and the Centurions that flew at Pit out of defense. His once loyal allies were now his enemies, and he had to shoot at each one with the Darkness Bow no matter how much it pained him to do so. Viridi explained to the two heroes as they flew "Palutena's gone off the deep end and destroyed Skyworld in the process. She's still fighting the Underworld Army, but she's mankind's enemy now too…"

"How've you been holding up, Viridi?" Pit inquires, and the goddess of nature tries to keep up a brave tone for the young angel by mentioning "I'm fine Pit. At least now there's a chance we can fix all this." "And to think, I was so worried about her…" Pit says in a melancholic tone. "Well, if you're not too busy moping, there's something you should see. Palutena's temple!"

The two heroes look forward and find Palutena's temple, where it looks to have taken the most damage out of everything in Skyworld. As the two heroes look at the temple, Palutena's gigantic, holographic green visage appears behind her temple, complete with her holding her staff and the holy lights appearing behind her head. "It's been a while, Pit…Riku…" She said, her voice now cold and uncaring as she swung her left arm out towards one of the broken islands.

"It's like the whole world has been turned upside down! What's going on here?!" Pit demanded some answers from someone, anybody in this world, but he was instead met with his own goddess, the person he respected most in the world, attacking him by throwing the broken island straight at him while stating "Everything changes, Pit. Even gods." As Pit and Riku are forced to speed out of the way of the island's destructive path, Palutena continues to state "And to be frank, I'm tired of fighting for those ungrateful humans."

With more islands being thrown around carelessly, Palutena finished off her spiel by exclaiming "And I'm especially tired of dealing with the both of you!" "No! This isn't like you!" Pit exclaims defiantly, and Viridi tells him straight up "You heard her Pit! This is real!" "That can't be possible! Someone has to be manipulating her! Someone is pulling the strings here!" Pit tries to deny reality for all he could, but no one would tell him that he was right.

With unhinged laughter, Palutena says to Pit as her visage fades from view "No, you're the only puppet here." "She needs my help! Viridi, send me in!" Pit exclaims desperately, and as Riku flies beside the young angel the goddess of Nature remarks "Are you sure you want to do that?" "Absolutely!" He replies.

Before Viridi obliges Pit's request, however, Riku suddenly grabs him around the waist and pulls him back. "What are you doing?!" He questions angrily, and the teenage Overlord shows him the meaning behind his behavior by extending his other hand out and using what energy he could muster in order to launch a fireball at Palutena's temple. The attack doesn't make it to the ruins as a force field of holy energy appears in time to block it, making Pit raise his eyebrows and say in a melancholy tone "No way…"

Dejected by this development, Pit hung his head low while being held under Riku's right shoulder. The tired teenage Overlord then looked up and said "Viridi, I can't break through the barrier right now. We're going to have to try something else…" "Good idea. I'll bring you back for now…" Viridi then summons forth her pillar of light around the two heroes, calling her back to her home base now that Pit knew what he was up against…

_Next Time: Plan B: Assault by Chariot_


	18. Announcement

Due to the upcoming hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I have decided to not stress myself out between balancing two stories, Persona Q and Xrd, and whatever else may happen in the coming week. As such, since Clash of the Elements is the more frequently updated story, I'll be taking a break from writing that for the coming week. I want to do my absolute best with the remaining chapters of this story, especially with what I have planned for Chapter 24.

Enjoy your Christmas, and I'll be back before New Year's Eve!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: The Lightning Chariot**

After being taken away from the ruins of Skyworld, Pit and Riku are brought to Viridi's home, where they are dropped off before the pint-sized goddess of nature. Once on the ground, Riku lets go of Pit and ends up collapsing onto his knees from exhaustion at long last. His hands lay limp against the floor, while the young angel falls flat on his face due to the way he was held under Riku's arm.

But because he was in a better shape than Riku, albeit barely, Pit was able to lift his head up quickly and get a look at where he was. Viridi's domain, unsurprisingly, was structured in such a way that there was a multitude of average-sized trees acting as the walls of the place. Thus there was no ceiling, and some light comes in through the leaves whenever the moon manages to escape the grey clouds still looming above.

There were some Forces of Nature troops walking around the area happily, and it was really weird for Pit to see them not fighting himself, Underworld Troops, or Aurum drones. The young angel then tried to get onto his feet, along the way looking forward to see Viridi standing in front of him with the same attire she had when she projected her visage all the way back when they first met. But unsurprisingly, instead of commenting on the fact that he was standing before the goddess of nature, Pit remarks "…You're actually shorter than me?"

Viridi's forehead twitches slightly as she crudely remarks "THAT'S the first thing you say after someone takes you to their domain?" Pit then slowly rubs the back of his head while responding with "S-Sorry…It's been a long day…" The melancholy in his voice was pretty clear, and after a moment of silence Viridi closes her eyelids and says "Fine, I suppose you're right…" The goddess of nature then wraps her staff under her arm and claps her hands together.

This calls forth a large swarm of Nutskis from behind Pit and Riku, who nudge themselves forward in such a way that they are able to flip the two heroes onto their heads. Both of them are flipped onto their backsides, and it's surprising how the little guys were able to carry at least 200 something pounds worth of flesh despite them spreading the weight amongst their bodies. 'W-Whoa!" Pit shows incredible surprise at being carried off by the Nutskis, while Riku just finds himself looking too tired to really acknowledge this event.

With Viridi turning herself around to guide her children along, she takes the two heroes to a large door crafted from the finest stones she could find, and with a tap of her staff against the very center of the slit between both halves she opens the way to the room behind it. Curious to know where he was going, Pit sits himself upright and looks out to see something that for the moment, made all his troubles seem like an after-thought.

Spread out lavishly across the entire room was a hot springs. But not just any hot springs…This one was bigger than any other one Pit had seen in his life, and it was complete with jet streams. "O-O-Oh…Oh my goooooosh!" Pit squealed in absolute joy before he gets up on his feet and leaps right off of the Nutskis, getting a little too ahead of himself as Viridi quickly lifts her staff up to cause the young angel to ram head first into the thickest part of her staff while the goddess of nature remarks "Oh no you don't!"

As Pit drops onto the ground, Riku lifts his body up to the best of his ability and glances down at him. The young angel lifts his head up and sees multiple Viridis in front of his eyes while she tells him "You can go into the hot springs, but you will WALK into it. I don't want you splashing water all over the sides, ok?" Quickly recovering from his head damage, Pit rises to his feet and says "Really? That's all?" Accepting that as a good rule, the young angel then proceeds to slowly walk into the hot springs while Viridi watches for a moment.

Pit immediately finds himself swimming through the warm, holy water while cheering happily at how great it all felt. "These jet streams are so tingly!" He remarks, which is then followed by Viridi glancing at Riku and telling him with a gesture towards the hot springs with her staff "Alright you, get in there as well." Understandably, the teenage Overlors raises an eyebrow weakly and remarks "…Who are you…and what have you done with the real Viridi?"

"Don't get the wrong idea here. I just need you two back in tip-top shape to deal with what's going on with Palutena and eventually defeat Hades." Viridi insists that is her reasoning for being kind here, and for once the teenage Overlord couldn't really disagree with it. But nevertheless, he remarks "I'll be fine…In this environment, I'll heal up very quickly."

The goddess of nature then says "You don't really get a choice in the matter, Riku." And with a tap of her staff against the ground the Nutskis get the cue to lower their heads and send Riku sliding slowly into the hot springs. As the teenage Overlord finds himself bathing in the healing warmth of the hot springs, Viridi turns and explains to him "You had your soul ripped out of your body for quite some time. Pit can recover from it rather quickly, but you need to spend a lot of time in here to heal your soul before your body can start healing normally."

Riku wanted to raise an objection after being forced into the hot springs, but found that he had no strength to resist after the water started to seep through his clothes and soak through the pores in his skin, at which point he chose to just lean back against the edge of the hot springs and give a tiny smile. "There you go. Just rest up for now. You, on the other hand, are needed for another mission pretty soon." Viridi bluntly remarks towards Pit after noticing that Riku was relaxed.

The young angel lifts his head up out of the hot springs water in order to say "Awww, do I have to?" "Look, you want to save Palutena or not?" Viridi forces Pit to remember the problem at hand, and the young angel sinks his head for a moment before lifting one fist up against his chest and remarking "No, you're right." Pit, after a few more seconds of enjoying the hot springs' water, climbed out and head over to Viridi.

"Excellent. Follow me." Viridi says before turning around and going back to the previous room, with Pit following close behind. Once there the goddess of nature directed her staff towards a staircase to the left that led to a glowing door. "Head up there, you'll be pleasantly surprised." At Viridi's behest, Pit runs up the staircase and goes through the door. There, he finds every single weapon that Palutena had ever made for him all lined up on the walls.

"Oh wow! This is incredible! Everything's here!" Pit shows his awe at what Viridi had accomplished, and the goddess of nature walks up behind him and remarks "Yep, everything here is accounted for…Minus the Three Sacred Treasures, obviously. It took a lot of hard work to get these things, but I figured you'd want to be well armed once you got your body back." Pit then quickly grabs a familiar weapon in the form of the First Blade, commenting to Viridi as he does so "Probably a good idea for me to go back to basics for now."

"If that's what you want, I ain't judging." Viridi says, followed by the young angel turning around and saying in an appreciative tone "Between getting my weapons back and the hot springs, you really are a nice person, Viridi." The goddess of nature blushes brightly while proclaiming in her crude tone "There'll be no kissing up to management here Pit! If you're satisfied with your weapon, then you need to get a move on!"

"Alright fine…" Pit remarks in regards to Viridi's bluntness before he nonetheless turns around and looks at the nearby magic door, which was very similar to the one Palutena always created for him. As memories of the past motivate him, Pit rushes for the door as it opens, and Viridi holds her staff out to activate the power of flight for him. The young angel flies out into the night sky, where clouds basked across the atmosphere and created a very beautiful scene…

Which was swiftly interrupted by the emergence of Underworld troops that Pit has to fight. But thankfully for him, with the magic door still open, Viridi is able to send out some of her aerial troops to intercept the Underworld Army. "Don't worry about them for now, I can hold them off." Viridi remarks via mental connection, and Pit says to her in turn "Thanks a lot Viridi!" Pit then continues through the sky until he's taken closer to the ground, at which point the goddess of nature starts to explain the nature of this mission "The force field around Palutena's temple is incredibly strong. I doubt even Riku could break through it at his full strength. Therefore, we're going to need to borrow the Lightning Chariot."

Pit's eyes light up in awe as he proclaims "That sounds AWESOME!" "It's a super fast battle carriage that travels across the galaxy! It's also pulled by unicorns!" Viridi's squeal of delight is heard after the last part, but then Pit remarks in confusion "And that's what I'm gonna use to break through the force field? …Cause basically, you're telling me to slam a horse cart into a brick wall."

"Sure, if you want to put it crudely!" Viridi exclaims, and Pit says in turn "…Does it at least have air bags?" The goddess of nature was swift with her "no" response, and Pit exclaims "I'm not a safety nut, but even I draw the line somewhere!" "Pit, you aren't going to save Palutena with that attitude." Riku then chimes in through the mental connection, showing that Viridi had gone back to the hot springs area for the time being.

"Grrrr…" Pit growled, seeing as Riku's remark was a rather cheap way to get him to stop complaining. Viridi didn't see the need to put further salt in the wound afterwards as Pit remarks "I guess it IS my duty to rescue her…But how are we going to find this Lightning Chariot on the ground?" "Well, I guess your chicken wings aren't going to get you very far, are they?" Viridi takes a shot at Pit's wings, which causes the young angel to remark sarcastically "Yeah, yeah…"

"Don't worry, I have a great plan in mind." Viridi says, and Pit couldn't help but feel this overbearing sense of dread on the back of his mind as Viridi then went on to explain "You ever been to a circus Pit? My favorite act is the human cannonball…It's just so thrilling!" "Of course watching humans get shot out of a cannon is entertaining for you." Riku jokingly remarks, followed by Pit saying in a worried tone "Where are you going with this?"

After Viridi takes a moment to glare at Riku she says to Pit "We're going to do the same with you Pit." It was at that point that a gigantic cannon complete with a Pit sized barrel comes into view, and Pit shakes his head and tries to resist the power of flight in this case while proclaiming "Nope! Nope! Absolutely not! I will not be a cannonball!" "Ugh, you're so boring! Where's your sense of adventure?" Viridi says before she uses her powers to stuff Pit right into the open back of the cannon, slamming the door shut before he can escape.

After a few seconds of aiming the cannon, Viridi then commands it to fire, sending Pit hurtling out through the barrel at such a high speed that it doesn't take him long to break past the atmosphere of the planet and into a part of space where the cosmos are shaped to look like roads across the black expanse. Once he recovers from the launch, Pit's immediate thought is "I could've been blown to smithereens!" "But you weren't! Look on the bright side!" Viridi nonchalantly replies.

The young angel then flies through the beautiful galactic sights, now forced to take on the Underworld Army since Viridi couldn't bring her troops this far out. But like always, even with one of his weakest weapons, the troops go down with ease. "Everything seems so beautiful out there…Wish I could be with you right now, Pit." Riku remarks, and the young angel states afterwards "Huh? How are you watching all of this?"

"Oh, Viridi set up a magic viewing window inside the hot springs. I guess Palutena likely did the same thing when we're out on missions." Riku says nonchalantly, followed by Viridi commenting "Yep. It's like watching a movie, only more entertaining." Before Pit can respond to that, he suddenly sees something fly through the air at lightning speeds, which catches everyone's attention as Viridi in particular exclaims "There's the Lightning Chariot! After it!"

Pit waits for the moment where the Lightning Chariot would appear again, but when it zips right in front of him the second time around it creates a tunnel through space that Pit has to enter in order to keep pursuing it. But once inside this blue tunnel a voice nobody wanted to hear again calls to the group cheerfully "Well, hello again, friends!" It doesn't take a genius to figure out who this was, as Pit demonstrated by proclaiming "Hades!"

"Ugh, not you again…" Riku and Viridi say in annoyed unison, but Hades ignores them all while saying "Just look at the two of you sneaking around behind Palutena's back. It's classic." "Shut up!" Pit exclaims in anger, while Viridi takes a more rational approach and asks "And just what do you want now?"

"The Lightning Chariot, obviously!" Hades replies without hesitation. "Ugh, just go away you creep." Viridi says while letting out a disgusted sigh, but once more Hades ignores her and explains "It's just a lovely ride. A veritable goddess magnet, if you will…" "Please, I'm a goddess, and I wouldn't be caught dead riding in that thing."

"But Pitty here sure likes it." Hades remarks, and in annoyance this time the young angel says "What do you REALLY want?" "Do I have to remind you? My intentions are always honorable." Hades says, followed by Riku remarking "Yep, reviving Medusa, the whole Wish Seed debacle, getting into a war with the Forces of Nature…All those sound like honorable goals to me."

"…Hmm, I don't recall you ever being so sarcastic before. Three years without a soul must have really gotten to you if that is now your defense mechanism, Ricky Boy." Hades remarks callously, and Riku goes silent not long after that. Drawing attention away from the Lord of the Underworld, Viridi remarks as Pit has to dodge and weave through lightning bolts after escaping the tunnel "The Lightning Chariot Base is up ahead!"

Sure enough, hidden in a cluster of galactic energy is a base glowing brightly like a lightning bolt. There is a tower in the center of the base that seems to look like a lightning rod. "Once you land at the bottom, you're going to have to climb all the way to top. Hope you're ready to feel the burn!" Viridi explains enthusiastically, and Pit doesn't seem at all worried about this at first as he proclaims "Of course I am! Have you seen these thighs?" "Then prepare for land battle!" Viridi proclaims before she sends Pit swooping down towards the base of the tower.

"Good luck Pit, you got a long road ahead of you…Even though there's nothing really stopping Viridi from just placing you on the top." Riku remarks, and the goddess of nature defensively states "That's not true! …Ugh, why can't you heal faster already…" As Viridi showed annoyance over Riku's presence, Pit landed inside of the base of the tower, which seemed to be crafted out of purple glass and rocks, and had an overall very welcoming atmosphere to it.

As Pit glances around he remarks "So the Lightning Chariot is somewhere in this tower, right?" But instead of getting an answer out of Viridi another voice calls out to the young angel by stating bluntly "Who dares trespass on my domain? Leave before you get hurt!" This causes Pit to stop and question who was responsible for the voice, and the man respectfully explains "I've had many names in my life, but now I am called the Chariot Master."

Pit then decides to move on past the first door in the tower, running across the glistening prismatic edge of the tower while stating to the Chariot Master "Oh, great! You're the guy I'm looking for. Listen, I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind if I borrow your chariot for just a little while?" After a moment of silence, the Chariot Master lets out a disbelieving sigh before stating "Your foolishness is matched only by your rudeness. How dare you charge in here, flinging unreasonable requests at me? I've half a mind to turn you into galactic road kill!"

The Master's rage was rather subdued, and Viridi remarks afterwards "Can't exactly blame him for that response. You were being kind of rude." "I know you want to save Palutena badly, but try not to upset the owner of the lightning fast chariot." Riku advises, and Pit says "Yeah, that's true. Alright, then I guess I have no choice but to head to the top of the tower and speak with the Chariot Master."

"Look at you, being all assertive. You're just grabbing life by the horns and shaking it until it moos!" "…That's a rather interesting metaphor." Pit remarks as he clears the first room in the tower of Underworld enemies, after which he goes through a pathway that looks the exact same as the last one. After clearing a couple more rooms without much muss or fuss, Pit comes across a room with alternating electric floors.

Pit has a little trouble dealing with the floors whole the Underworld Army was breathing down his neck, something Riku brings up as she says "Hey Chariot Master, you probably should've had an aerial defense system put in for those flying guys." "Yes yes, I know all too well about that. It'll be resolved in the next version of the tower." The Chariot Master replies, not seeming to care about the people who were talking to him through his mind.

After dispatching of the Underworld Army in this room despite the disadvantage, Pit continues to scale up the tower through the outer edge and a couple rooms, but after taking a look up at the top and finding that he wasn't even halfway there he stops running for a moment before another room and lowers his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "A-Are you sure there isn't another way up this tower, Viridi, like an elevator or something?" Pit inquires.

"Oh sure thing Pit, let me just use my incredible elevator creating powers for you." Viridi was so sarcastic that it hurt Pit physically, and he lifted his body up while remarking "Ok, I'm really not in the mood for sarcasm, Viridi." "Then quite your whining and get a move on! This isn't going to get any easier for you any time soon!" Viridi was blunt, but it was just the right level of bluntness needed to get Pit to stop relaxing and remark albeit hesitantly "…Gah, fine…"

He then turns around and enters through the next door, where he finds three ramped platforms leading up to the way out of there. Each ramp had a purple and pink runic boulder rolling down it at certain intervals along with a jump pad in the middle of each ramp. "Something about this seems…familiar." Pit remarks, followed by Riku saying "I think this reference is before my time" and Hades says in turn "The Chariot Master must be a fan of Donkey Kong."

With the jump pads assisting him, Pit is able to bypass all of the boulders without being run over, much to Hades' disappointment. The young angel climbs yet another portion of the edge of the tower, and in the next room he is surprised to find an Aether Ring floating above an icy floor. He leaps into it while remarking "What's one of these doing here?" "I didn't call it for you…That's strange, why would a vehicle of the gods be here?" Viridi inquires.

"Isn't it obvious?" The Chariot Master remarks, and Viridi interprets this remark as meaning that he was a god. But the man humbly replies "I'm not saying anything of the sort." "Viridi, wouldn't it make sense that the Chariot Master would have collected rides from the planet to use?" Riku remarks, and the Chariot Master says to him "That would be a fair assumption…If I did not have loyalty to the Lightning Chariot and nothing more."

"…And even with a close guess, you still aren't going to reveal the truth?" Riku inquires, and the Chariot Master bluntly says "No" in response, causing the teenage Overlord to drop the issue entirely. Pit has cleared out the room of Underworld Troops by this time, but much to his dismay he is unable to take the Aether Ring with him due to a particularly placed barrier. Thus he is forced to run again, his legs feeling a bit sore at this point as he deals with two more rooms, one of which includes hitting a giant lead ball to bowl down some Reapettes.

"Striiiike!" Pit triumphantly pumps his fist up after knocking all the Reapettes down in one shot, but in being distracted by his triumph he doesn't notice the ball rolling back up at him at first. Once he does, his eyes widen and he leaps off the side of the staircase he was on a second before he's squished. Once down on the ground, Pit runs out of the room before the ball can threaten him again.

"Ha…ha…ha…" Pit feels his heart pumping from the sudden danger presented to him a moment ago, but once he catches his breath he continues to run up the edge of the tower. "Are we there yet?" Pit inquires in a hopeful tone, but Viridi quickly shuts him down by saying "No we aren't. You better not start repeating that now." "I make NO promises." The young angel remarks with a heavy amount of snark in his tone as he enters the next room, which was filled with a heavy wind across two-tiers of walkways.

"If you're worried about the wind Pit, I could probably manipulate it from here." Riku says, thinking about the young angel's wings as he offered his assistance. "Nah, I'll be fine." Pit replies confidently as he folds his wings together behind himself and starts to run through the course. Meanwhile, Viridi glances at Riku and says to him "You aren't going to do anything from here anyways. Any use of your powers will lengthen how long you stay in my hot springs, and I personally want you out sooner rather than later."

"And yet you're having one of your Urgles give me a back massage at this very moment…" Riku says to turn Viridi's remark against her while Pit was listening in, and as the teenage Overlord lets out a very relaxed sigh the young angel clears the room he was in and remarks "Aw man, why can't I have a foot massage right now? My soles are killing me!" "Because Riku's here and you're there. MAYBE I'll let you have a foot massage when you get back, but you have to stop whining first!" Viridi takes her frustration towards Riku out on Pit since he was the one making the most recent remark towards her.

Admittedly though, it worked for the best as Pit seemed a bit more motivated to move on after that, as he ran on to the next room without hesitation, where he found an Exo-Tank just lying around near a ramp. Getting on it, Pit rides up to a winding path of hardened light that weaves around to the next part of the tower. Along the way, the Chariot Master remarks "Hmph, I see you found the practice track for the Lightning Chariot. It's not meant for amateurs, so you better not disgrace me by failing to complete it."

Much to the surprise of the Chariot Master, Pit is able to traverse the track and clear the ramp to the next door without any troubles, in spite of Hades placing some Underworld soldiers in the way to try and stop the young angel. "…Hmmm…" The Chariot Master hummed to himself in intrigue, but didn't say anymore after that as Pit got off the Exo-Tank and ran forth to the next part of the tower.

"Hey Viridi, not trying to sound whiny here, but are you SURE there isn't a faster way up the tower?" Pit inquires, trying to be particularly careful not to tick her off so he loses his chance at a foot massage. "I get what you're saying…This IS taking a really long time." Pit then enters the next room, and finds a tall crystal that seems to be suspending a lift to a much higher part of the tower. "Oh neat, maybe this can take me further up?" The young angel remarks, and he then gets to doing what he always does in these situations and shoots the targets located around the crystal so he can break it apart and lower the lift for him.

Naturally, Hades sends his troops out to get in the way, making the enemies tougher with each step that Pit takes in lowering the lift. But being tougher doesn't, yet again, help out the enemies as they are all dispatched easily. Afterwards, Pit is given a jump pad to allow him to ascend further up the tower, but before he steps on it Riku remarks "Great job Pit, you're already hal-" However, the teenage Overlord finds himself strangely interrupted by a black screen with a strange grey swirl in the center of it and a tips box below that says _"Do not use game interface jokes in a fan fic. They aren't very funny."_

Once everything comes back into view for everyone, Riku blinks a few times and remarks "…You know what, I'm not even going to say anything else this time." Meanwhile, Pit lands on a ring of marble after being launched from the jump pad, where he's ambushed by some aerial Underworld Troops. "Attention minions! I'm offering 100 gold for the putz's head!" Hades proclaims to motivate his troops to try harder, and as Pit shoots at his foes he proclaims in an insulted tone "The name's Pit!"

"I know. Your tenure as a ring roommate with Ricky Boy doesn't seem to have had any effect on that keen wit of yours." Hades remarks callously, something that Pit comments on in a puzzled tone "Wait, you knew that I was transformed into a ring?" "Oh, is it a secret? Then don't me. Mum's the word!" Hades nonchalantly replies.

"Wait, did YOU turn us into a ring?" Pit harshly accuses the Lord of the Underworld for his troubles, and this causes Riku to groan while Hades replies in blunt quietness "Wow, you really ARE clueless, aren't you? Don't you know Pitty, you're part of the cause of all this chaos." "Wait, what are you saying?" Pit inquires, and Riku quickly tells him "I told you already Pit, that creature I was trying to kill used Palutena to force us into that ring."

"Of course, that creature wouldn't have gotten that far if it wasn't for the Underworld Army." Viridi remarks, and Hades says after a momentary chuckle "That's cute rosebud, but we all know that it was Ricky and Pitty that caused all this trouble. I mean, it's been fun to watch for the last three years, don't get me wrong…" "Quiet you! You're annoying!" Viridi bluntly replies, ignoring the fact that Riku was hanging his head quietly behind her.

"Watch out troops! This is a feisty one!" Hades jokingly warns his minions, though it didn't really mean much considering Pit took out the swarm in this part of the tower. He is then able to take a jump pad to another door that allows him to traverse the edge of the tower once more. As he walked up the way, Pit remarked "Viridi, serious question. How tall is this tower?" "…Beats me. It really seems much bigger than I thought it would be." The goddess of nature replies, and Pit rubs the back of his head while remarking "You aren't joking. We even had a loading screen one page back…How was that even possible?"

"Shhhh, don't mention that stuff. They aren't supposed to know about that!" Viridi tries to get Pit to shut up about that, but that doesn't stop Riku from saying "What do you guys even keep referring to when you say those strange things? I think I remember Kirby making those type of remarks too…" "We're done with this conversation!" Viridi demands an end to this matter, and both the teenage Overlord and Pit stop immediately.

In fact, everyone remains rather quiet as Pit traverses the next few rooms rather easily, even though his legs were throbbing in pain rather frequently by the time he finished the latest one. "You're almost there Pit, don't give up yet!" Viridi exclaims, after which a grind rail is summoned in front of the young angel that allows him to take a bit of a break from running as he rides around the outside of the tower for a minute or so while shooting through any barriers that get in his way.

"Thanks a lot Viridi, I needed this." Pit says in an appreciative tone as he lets out a sigh of relief and enjoys the ride until he's forced to get off. Afterwards, he's able to use a Cherubot to fight more Underworld troops, since Hades did not know the meaning of the phrase "know when to give up". After beating all of them up with punches and projectiles, Pit gets out of the Cherubot and remarks "I'm really feeling it! We're almost at the top!"

"You're right there Pit. But before you make it to the very top, I got a gift for you! Just head up one more room to receive it." After one more trek through the outside edge of the tower, Pit comes face-to-face with an incredible looking hot springs. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The young angel squeals like a little girl as he leaps into the water and feels the pain in his legs melt away as he lays back first atop it all.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Pit rapidly shows his appreciation towards the goddess of nature, and Viridi lets out a relieved sigh knowing that Pit was almost done with the Lightning Chariot's tower. Noticing this, Riku remarks to her in a nonchalant tone "You know Viridi, it's not hard to figure out your intentions. You wanted me to just stick back so you can see if Pit had what it takes to fend for himself…Minus the power of flight, of course."

"…It's that obvious, huh?" Viridi says, making certain not to let Pit hear either herself or Riku in the process. "It's bothersome that Pit was this strong without your help. If you weren't here, Pit still would've stopped my Forces of Nature. Everything probably still would've been the same…It really begs the question as to why you are even here, Riku." "You know Viridi, at this point in my life I think I've asked that question plenty of times." The teenage Overlord nonchalantly remarks before he goes back to leaning in the hot springs.

As he goes back, Pit finishes up his time in the hot springs. The pain in his legs has vanished, and it is with this renewed vigor that he is able to run out of this room and scale the last leg of the tower, where he finds a pillar of light that carries him to the last part of the tower. He ends up on a gigantic race track made of celestial light, and the immediate thing that grabs his attention is the presence of a beautiful white unicorn that has a glowing violet mane and a horn that looks like a lightning bolt.

The unicorn was carrying behind it a chariot cart of gold and bronze, and Pit remarked in an overjoyed tone "This must be the Lightning Chariot!" As Pit runs over to the cart, the Chariot Master's voice calls out in order to grab his attention "Grab the reins on Phos there." Surprised at how easy the acquisition of the chariot will turn out to be, Pit remarks in an appreciative tone "Gee, thanks!"

But as he gets onto the cart, the Chariot Master calls out again in a calm but berating tone "You misunderstand. This is no gift." The galloping of hooves can be heard rapidly approaching the young angel, and it's not long before the Chariot Master, who is a charred humanoid skeleton surrounded by soul blue flames, to speed by on his own chariot cart pulled by another majestic unicorn. Pit doesn't even have to ask what's going on as he leaps onto the cart and grabs onto the reins of the unicorn called Phos, lightly whipping them to command the horse to gallop forth to catch up with the Chariot Master.

As the Chariot Master notices Pit catching up to him, he remarks in a warrior-like tone "If you want the Lightning Chariot, you will have to defeat me in combat!" The skeletal man then turns back and swings his right arm out, summoning forth two ghastly flames that shoot out blue fireballs at Pit, forcing him to swerve the chariot to the center of the pathway to avoid getting hit. "The Lightning Chariot requires two unicorns to pull, so you'll have to defeat the Chariot Master to get the other one!" Viridi remarks.

"That won't be a problem!" Pit exclaims confidently while using his First Blade to shoot at the Chariot Master whenever he wasn't dodging fireballs or lightning strikes. The young angel then says apologetically to the man "I wish we didn't have to do this, but this is the only way I can save Lady Palutena." "I understand that better than you know. For my own master, I would not hesitate to dirty these hands." The Chariot Master surprisingly replies.

"You have a master?" Pit says in a tone of great surprise as he swerves around a corner beside the Chariot Master, where the man then speeds up to get some distance away from Pit while replying "I did. I've suffered countless war wounds, but none greater than the loss of my master. I once had many comrades in arms. But they too have returned to the dust. All I have left in this life are my faithful steeds, Phos and Lux!"

The Chariot Master's tale was short and melancholy, but the man seemed barely phased by what he said. Pit however seemed pretty saddened by what he heard, and for a moment he showed pity for the Chariot Master. The man then says "My body has long since degraded, and now my soul grows thin. The warrior's path inevitably leads to loss. I have no qualms about this."

"At least you will die knowing that you kept the camaraderie you had with your allies close to your heart, even after they long since departed." Riku remarks, and the Chariot Master says in turn "…Indeed." The teenage Overlord then begins to think about what the Chariot Master was saying, but in the time it took for the conversation to pass Pit had managed to deal enough good hits on the Chariot Master to defeat him right after they finished the first and only lap on this gorgeous track.

"Well…done…" The Chariot Master weakly says as he is thrown off the back of his chariot cart, and Lux stops moving upon sensing her master's demise. Pit stops Phos from going any further upon seeing the Chariot Master fall, and he proceeds to leap off of the cart and run over to the fallen warrior while proclaiming "Hey! Are you ok?!" The Chariot Master's body was set aglow, as bits of his flames rise up into the atmosphere to signify that his death has come.

But the Chariot Master, honorable as he's always been, shows no offense and quite a bit of joy towards Pit as he turns his head and says to him "Ah heh heh…I seem to have drowned in your reservoir of strength. You've…proven yourself worthy of my Lightning Chariot." Pit didn't like this result, as he shook his head before extending his right hand out and saying "No! I don't want it to end this way!"

"Hehe…This is the only way things can end for an old warrior. I have no regrets, and I pray that you do not as well, young Pit…I'm trusting you with Phos and Lux…And the future of this realm…" The Chariot Master raises his right hand into the air, and for a moment his usually emotionless face smiles to show his acceptance of death. The man is burned away by violet flames, leaving nothing left in a matter of seconds as Pit hangs his head low and clenches his right fist in disappointment.

"He was such an honorable warrior. Do not let his death be in vain…Now, let's go save Palutena." Viridi says, showing a great deal of respect towards the Chariot Master in the process. Riku had nothing to say about his demise, and he prepared to go save Palutena by getting out of Viridi's hot springs as she summons forth a pillar of light to call forth not only Pit, but also the Lightning Chariot and it's two unicorns back to her domain. The time was nigh for the assault on Palutena's Temple…

_Next Time: Memories of Skyworld_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Palutena's Temple**

Through the Chariot Master's melancholy demise, Pit has managed to acquire the Lightning Chariot for use in penetrating the barrier surrounding Palutena's Temple. All that remained now was preparations for what would be a fated battle with the goddess of light. Many questions still bothered Pit, especially in regards to what could be controlling Palutena, but Viridi said to him that she would talk about it on the way to the temple itself.

As such, Pit took a brief dip in the hot springs to heal himself up, and then spent the rest of his time looking through the weapons cache Viridi had gathered for him near the magic door out of her domain. Phos, Lux, and the Lightning Chariot had been placed inside of this room, which was also increased in size in order to fit the two unicorns. Viridi also set up some food for them to eat, and judging by their gentle neighs they enjoyed every bit of it.

While the young angel prepared himself, Riku, after healing up throughout the last mission, was busy thinking to himself about what he was going to do during the coming battle. _"I can't allow the Chaos Kin to live once Pit frees Palutena from it's vile grasp. The quicker it dies, the quicker we can go deal with Hades." _Riku remarks as he puts on a rather serious expression and begins walking up the staircase to join up with Pit.

By this point, the young angel had chosen a weapon to use for battle. Specifically, he picked the Silver Bow, which surprised both Riku and Viridi. "That weak ol' thing? You're going to be facing Palutena, you can't be using a bow like that!" Viridi berates Pit for his decision, but as the young angel splits the bow up into two small blades and puts them into the belt behind his back he says "I have to take this with me Viridi. Trust me, I have a plan."

The young angel then grabs onto another weapon, the Upperdash Arm, and attaches it to his right limb. He pumps it into the air and proclaims "Hope you don't mind if I take two weapons, Viridi!" The goddess of nature reluctantly sighs and says "Whatever you want Pit, we don't really have time to argue about this. Are you ready to go?" Pit nods his head before he promptly leaps onto the cart of the Lightning Chariot, ready to take the reins of Phos and Lux.

The two unicorns neigh proudly before they turn to face the magic door, and as Riku gestures towards Viridi he walks past her and says "Guess I'll get going as well. Thanks for the hospitality Viridi." "Just remember that we're enemies again after we finish Hades off! Don't let this hospitality fool you, it won't mean anything in the long run!" The goddess of nature, as usual, had to ensure the two heroes that she wasn't being nice.

Pit nonchalantly says to her "Alright then, we're off!" "…Ugh, fine." Viridi says, and with a stamp of her staff against the ground the magic door opens up to reveal a perfectly gorgeous view of the Earth's atmosphere. Whipping Phos and Lux's reins lightly, Pit takes off at lightning speeds through space via the Lightning Chariot. He was surprised by how much of a tug the chariot had, but braced himself enough to avoid falling off. Riku kicked off the ground and flew forth at the same speed as the Lightning Chariot after summoning forth his air barrier.

As the magic door became a speck behind them in mere seconds, Pit and Riku watched as they were being intercepted by more Underworld forces, which were somehow managing to keep up with the Lightning Chariot as it galloped towards the planet. Thankfully, Phos and Lux were ready to defend their new master as they launched bolts of lightning from their horns to burn right through the Underworld Army.

"You two will reach a warp tunnel in about one minute! Keep on your feet Pit, or you'll slip right off the chariot!" Viridi advises through Pit and Riku's mind. But as he opens his mouth the high speed causes his lips to wiggle about while he remarks "My skin feels like it's going to peel right off!" Using her ability to choose the best time for mockery, Viridi says to the young angel "What's that?! You want to go faster?! You are the arrow of light that pierces the heart of darkness!"

Viridi seemed to really be enjoying herself, but after a few seconds of her own laughter she went on to say "This chariot's a real beast. These speeds don't even touch it. I wish I could say the same for you Pit, but you're such a fragile little thing. But even a pebble becomes a bullet if it moves fast enough. Just be extra careful not to get your butt ripped off in the process." Pit confidently exclaims to her in response "Don't you worry, I'll show you how it's done!"

"Heh, you sound pretty confident all of a sudden." Viridi remarks in a subtle tone of surprise, and Pit says to her "How hard can it be?" "I guess you'll find out soon enough." She says in turn. After dealing with a few more Underworld troops, the Lightning Chariot gallops into a giant blue rift that opens in front of it. Streams of light are all that Pit and Riku are able to see as the speed of the Lightning Chariot doubles, and Pit feels much twitching in his muscles as he exclaims in a stuttering tone "T-T-T-This is c-c-c-crazy!"

"Keep your face on. It's just a warp tunnel. It'll take you straight to Palutena's temple." Viridi says, which is then followed by Pit fighting through the pain of this speed by exclaiming "I know this is a weird time to ask this, but can I now find out what's going on here?! I mean, Hades said Riku and I were the cause of all this chaos." "Not just you two. Palutena herself is also at fault for everything that has happened." Viridi quickly replies.

"What?!" Pit was shocked to hear something like that, but before he drew the wrong conclusion from this reveal Viridi quickly explained "Remember the Lunar Sanctum you two destroyed three years ago?" "Oh! Arlon's moon fortress?" Pit's memory seemed to slip in regards to what Riku mentioned about the place back then, causing Viridi to mock him by saying "You dummy! That place was a PRISON! And you free the prisoner, the Chaos Kin! You DO know about the Chaos King, don't you?"

"Oh right, Riku did kind of determine that it was a prison, forgot about that. But hey, that Chaos Kin thing was a bug, we thought it'd be good to set it against the Forces of Nature." Pit says, and after a moment of disbelieving silence Viridi says "You idiot! It doesn't eat plants! It devours so-…Oops! You're almost at Palutena's temple!" "Wait, what?!" Pit exclaims in shock before the Lightning Chariot makes one final charge that leaves Riku far behind it as Viridi exclaims "Brace for impact!"

In the blink of an eye, the Lightning Chariot emerges from the warp tunnel and pierces right through Palutena's barrier like an arrow. A streak of lightning blue appears across the sky for a moment as the barrier shatters like glass, and as time catches up with the speed of the Lightning Chariot an impact can be felt through the grounds of Palutena's Temple. Pit manages to keep control of the Lightning Chariot as he loops around through the air and prepares to go in for a landing.

"You alright Pit?" Viridi asks, and the young angel proclaims "Never better! Now, time to save Palutena!" Pit then leaps out of the chariot cart and lands on the grounds of the temple, where Riku manages to catch up and land beside him as the Lightning Chariot gallops off into the distance. Suddenly, Phosphora shows up and goes after the chariot, commenting "I'll hold on to the Lightning Chariot for you."

"Where did you come from?" Pit remarks in surprise, but the lightning girl remarks quickly "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here to help. Stopping Palutena is your job." Confidently raising his left hand into the air, Pit proclaims confidently "Don't need it! We got this!" The two heroes then start to traverse through the temple grounds, forgetting about the earlier conversation regarding the Chaos Kin as they are attacked by Centurions.

Palutena's Temple was a fair distance away, the wings of the goddess of light's statue shine via the pale light of the rising sun reminding Pit of how things were once before. "Lady Palutena! Can you hear me?!" Pit exclaims to call the attention to the goddess of light. "Well hello again, Pit. Now how did you make it through that barrier? It seems you are not the sniveling, helpless thing you were before!" Palutena still maintained that cold, wicked tone she had before, but Pit doesn't respond to the insult as he exclaims "You have to stop attacking the humans!"

"No Pit, don't you see? This is atonement for my greatest sin. I let the people grow arrogant and betray the heavenly order." Palutena replies, and Viridi says snidely "Geez, you're now figuring this out?" As Pit kicks down a door into one of the smaller temple and immediately charges at a Centurion Strongarm with his Upperdash Arm he proclaims "You're not yourself! The Lady Palutena I know would never say something like that!"

"Oh please…Angels cannot truly know gods!" Palutena responds, and as Riku scowls at what she was being forced to say Pit says defiantly towards her remark "I followed your orders because I trusted you. I can't even count all the times I've risked my life for you!" As he says this, he delivers an angered and powerful punch towards the Centurion Strongarm that launches him through two statues and sends him flying out through one of the walls in this small temple.

As Pit recovers from the recoil of his punch, Viridi remarks coldly "What a sap…" "Viridi, I demand you shut up for the moment!" Riku exclaims in anger so Pit can say what he needs to without interruptions. After Pit catches his breath he looks up and exclaims "I trusted you because I knew you were on the side of justice and…and light! But something is blocking that light now. This isn't the real you!"

"These are-" "You be quiet too Phosphora!" Riku stops Phosphora from saying anything as well, and Pit exclaims "I don't even get why you two are trying to be so callous! The goddess of light has turned dark! Skyworld is destroyed! Everything is wrong, and it's up to us to make things right!" Pit then busts down the door in front of him with one powerful punch from his Upperdash Arm after making the last proclamation, with Palutena going on to say "Oh Pit, you never change do you? You're just as naïve as ever."

"He's not naïve, Chaos Kin!" Riku exclaims, followed by Palutena saying to them "Don't get me wrong. I appreciate how easy that's made things for me. But you have to understand, the past is gone." "Fine. If that's the way you really feel, I guess I have no choice. As the captain of your guard, it's my duty to save you from what you've become. And if saving you means defeating you, then I'll do what I have to do." "And as the Element Overlord, it is my job to put an end to this chaos you have created, monster." Riku remarks, and Palutena doesn't say anymore for the time being.

Now that Pit had a moment to catch his breath after breaking the door of the small temple down, he notices an Exo-Tank nearby and decides to leap into it and ride it across the temple grounds. At this point he starts noticing Underworld Army troops and begins firing at them, realizing that by breaking through the temple barrier he allowed Hades the chance to invade these sacred grounds as well.

Riku understood the pain Pit was dealing with because of this added factor to the invasion of the temple, and with his sword finally drawn he decided to take on the Underworld Army while saying to Pit to keep going for the moment. Pit thanked Riku for that, and the two kept a mental connection via Viridi's powers, which was important as the young angel inquired "So anyways, are you going to say anymore about that Chaos Kin, Viridi?"

"Oh right, almost forgot." Viridi says in a tone of awkward surprise, but then she gets serious before explaining "Not much is known about the Chaos Kin except this…It takes its victims back to its nest, the Chaos Vortex, and consumes their souls." "Well that's horrifying…" Pit remarks in a disturbed matter, followed by Viridi stating "It melts them down and then slowly chews away at them. Even more frightening is the Chaos Kin's ability to control the soul's owner."

"So it's very likely that Lady Palutena is under the Chaos Kin's control?" Pit asks, and Viridi answers affirmatively. "And as for who turned you into a ring, who would be capable of such a thing?" "Actually, Riku already told me that Lady Palutena did that…" Pit remarks while nervously rubbing the back of his head out of embarrassment for interrupting Viridi. "Why am I not surprised? …Actually, wait a second, this is the first time I'm hearing about this. How does he know that?"

"Because I tried to slay the Chaos Kin after we dealt with the Aurum, since I figured it found Palutena by that time." Riku interjects, and Viridi says "Well look at you being right on top of things…That just raises further questions though." The teenage Overlord then remarks "Actually, I have a question. When the Chaos Kin first broke out of the Lunar Sanctum, why is it that I couldn't sense it's presence?"

"Why would you be able to sense it? It's from an alternate dimension, after all." Viridi says as though it would be common logic, but Riku states "I've faced creatures from other dimensions before, and I could sense them just fine. There's something more to the Chaos Kin than what you're saying." "And if there is, I don't really know. That's not important right now anyways, Riku." Viridi remarks.

"Right. Palutena had to have been acting under the Chaos Kin's control earlier." Pit says to get the conversation back on track, but Viridi remarks "Are you sure? After all, you did say that Palutena has put you in some dangerous situations before." "It's a nice assumption Viridi, but then she should have known that would have left our bodies able to be controlled by the Chaos Kin." Riku says.

"None of that matters now." Pit says as he gets off the Exo-Tank and enters another small temple to find himself ambushed by a swarm of shield and spear wielding Centurions. "I can't let Lady Palutena's soul get devoured by the Chaos Kin. I will rescue her, no matter the cost!" Pit proclaims before he grits his teeth and finds himself forced to take down even more of his comrades in order to advance through the temple grounds.

After Pit has taken down the next wave of Centurions, Riku joins back up with him, using his powers to slam the doors shut behind them so the Underworld Army couldn't pursue. "Hades isn't letting up. He really doesn't want us to reach Palutena." Riku remarks, and it was at that point the Lord of the Underworld came in and said "Oh no dear Ricky Boy, I just don't want YOU to reach pretty Palutena."

"Hades!" Pit proclaims, and the Lord of the Underworld ignores him so he can say to Riku "I know all too well that you could defeat Palutena and stop the Chaos Kin, but what fun would there be in such a simple end to this chaos?" "I'm not surprised you'd say that, even though if the Chaos Kin succeeds he'll take Palutena's soul away from your grasp forever." Riku replies with rather quickly.

"I'm not too concerned. Her soul would be far too bothersome to deal with anyways. The thousands of souls you and Pitty Pat provided for me over the last three years was equal enough worth anyways." Hades says, and Riku points out "I didn't have anything to do with the slaughtering of the humans." "Oh Ricky Boy, you're so naïve. Let me guess, little rosebud told you that?" Hades remarks in a callous tone.

Viridi immediately exclaims "Because that's the truth! Don't you dare try and trick them!" "Heheh, I suppose you two fools do need to focus. We'll save this discussion for another time." Hades replies forebodingly, and Pit and Riku then keep going through the building they were win. As they descend down the staircase, Viridi warns them "Up ahead is pretty twisted. There are multiple jail cells above…and belowground."

"I'll say it's twisted! Skyworld never needed jails before!" Pit exclaims in disbelief as he reaches the center of the room and finds himself and Riku getting involved in a scuffle between Underworld troops and the Centurions. "Snap out of it you idealist, there's obviously a need now." "Why? Wasn't Palutena killing everything that stood in her way?" Riku comments, and Viridi quickly says "You just got be Mr. Logic Pants, don't you? Anyways, it's a maze, that's what I meant when I said it's twisted."

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. Thank you very much you two for breaking the way in for me." Hades chimes in, and Viridi says after a groan "Oh joy, it's the return of Mr. Personality himself! We missed you in the minute where you weren't talking!" The Lord of the Underworld ignores her and says "Admittedly, I also forgot to mention something. While I do appreciate the chaos that bug has caused, I'd rather it be stopped sometime sooner. It's quite a handful, even for me."

"We aren't doing this to help you out, Hades! We're trying to save Lady Palutena from that evil creature!" Pit exclaims in defiance of what Hades was saying, but the Lord of the Underworld remarks "Oh I know that quite well, but I hope you'll be able to live with yourself when you cause whatever the Chaos Kin's race is to become extinct." "Good riddance then, honestly. I can't imagine there possibly being more than one Chaos Kin." Riku says, caring little for Hades' attempt at making Pit feel guilt.

After busting down a glowing lock of light, Pit and Riku are able to cross a rising bridge to a tight room with a Juggernaut and a couple Centurions. Once they deal with that room, they rise up a staircase and find themselves back outside. The temple loomed straight ahead, but the pathway seemed smaller, drawing Pit's attention towards the fact that he is very high above the planet's surface. "One fall would kill me if you didn't have the power of flight in reserve, Viridi."

"Yes, falling would certainly throw a wrench into the plan if it wasn't for that." Viridi says sarcastically, and Hades remarks "So would getting tossed around by the side winds ahead." Sure enough, there was a heavy breeze up ahead that would push the heroes off the sides of the temple grounds had Riku not decided to dispel them. Even so, Hades remarks "Still Pitty Pat, Palutena must hate you even more than I do."

"That was NOT her doing!" Pit exclaims, and Palutena chimes in to mention "I wouldn't be so sure about that." "Shut up you fake! Riku, put that wind back in! I'm not going to let a light breeze stop me from reaching Lady Palutena!" Pit uses quite a bit of authority in his voice when addressing Riku, and the teenage Overlord doesn't hesitate to summon forth the breeze again. Pit then runs forth, dodging the Tempura Wizard that happened to be in the area and pushing against the strong winds to make it to the gated area. Riku follows him while casually blowing the Tempura Wizard away with a giant fireball.

"You're almost there Pit! Just take that Exo-Tank at high speeds over a couple of gaps and you'll be at the front gates of the temple!" Viridi exclaims, followed by Hades stating in a humored tone "That puny little trike isn't going to be able to go the distance." "Of course it will! It's a lean, mean, beetle-shaped machine!" Pit exclaims confidently to defy Hades' lack of confidence towards him, and after he dispatched the Underworld Army nearby to open the way through Pit lined himself up with the path and gaps that he would have to pass.

Charging across the temple grounds and ramming into two Monoeyes, Pit is able to make it across both gaps in spite of some wind resistance. And as he lands safely on the final area directly in front of the temple Pit leaps off of the Exo-Tank and tumbles forward through the nearby gate, getting on his feet and looking up to see Palutena's giant statue imposing its presence in his eyes. "I'm almost there…" Pit says quietly as he starts to make a run for the temple as Riku ends up following him moments later.

But two barriers of dark energy are created to trap the two heroes inside of a rectangular space, and one final swarm of Centurions and Juggernauts are brought in one after the other to cut Pit off. "You two should just quit while you're ahead." Palutena says arrogantly, and Pit exclaims "I'm not giving up! Not when I've come this far!" Riku and Pit then combine their efforts to take down the Centurion forces quickly, and Viridi is able to ensure them that this is the last line of defense as she remarks "All right you two! Go and save Palutena!"

"Save Palutena? Don't you mean 'crush Palutena'?" Hades comments with blunt callousness, and as he starts to walk for the temple Pit says in a calm but serious tone "Go home Hades. Just go home…" As one gate proves to be the only obstacle in Pit's path, Riku prepares to join him to face the goddess of light, but is swiftly ambushed in the front of a Clubberskull being dropped down from the sky. The hulking beast swings it's arm out like a punch upon landing, and Riku ends up having to block it with his sword in order to avoid taking a direct hit.

As he's dragged along the ground from the impact of the blow, Riku ends up hearing the sounds of about five more heavy objects dropping and quickly finds himself glancing behind his shoulder to see five more Clubberskulls have been sent down by Hades. "Not so fast, Ricky Boy. I told you that Pitty would have to deal with Palutena on his own. You can have some fun dealing with my legion of Clubberskulls, if you need to satiate your lust for battle."

As the Lord of the Underworld gives Riku his options, Riku holds his blade at the center of his body and ignites it with bright flames, looking determined as can be as he proclaims "Pit! Just save Palutena! I'll slay the remainder of the Underworld forces here so Palutena can return to a Skyworld as pure as she can imagine!" The young angel didn't even need to glance back and acknowledge Riku's remark, nor did he see the explosion of fire that started the battle between Riku and the Clubberskulls.

Pit walked slowly towards the goddess of light's temple, his heart pounding nervously as he began to see Palutena emerge from the front of the temple itself. She limbered out, showing that her body has been weakened by the exposure to the Chaos Kin's vile grasp. But she carried her battle staff and shield, and the angelic light behind her head was untouched in it's luminosity. Lifting herself upright, Palutena said to Pit "So, you're here to fight me, Pit?"

Even though he stood before Palutena, and tried his hardest not to still believe that he had become involved in some terrible nightmare, he gave the goddess of light his firmest glare as he grabbed onto the wrist of his Upperdash Arm and clasped it hard enough to detach it from the rest of his limb. Swinging his arm out afterwards allows him to toss the Upperdash Arm right off the side of the temple grounds, and as he reaches for the two halves of the Silver Bow he kept behind his belt he told Palutena "No…No, I'm here to save you!"

Pit then links the two halves of the Silver Bow together, spinning it around with a careful movement of his fingers before he grasps it properly and aims it at Palutena. The goddess of light flinches for a moment, her mouth opening as she mutters out Pit's name in surprise and pain, only for her voice to be silenced as the invisible Chaos Kin forces her mouth shut and commands the body of Palutena to levitate onto the battlefield, which shook to signify that it was going to rise up into the air. Pit noticed Palutena's brief response, and knew then that his plan to have her fight off the Chaos Kin's influence via awakening some of her memories with the first weapon she made for him would end up working to his advantage.

But Pit does not intend to fire at Palutena herself. His target was the Chaos Kin, wherever it may be. "The Chaos Kin is nearby. I'll try and find him for you." Viridi remarks, and Pit asks as he notices a green reticule appearing on his body "I thought the Chaos Kin was inhabiting Lady Palutena's brain?" He then leaps back as Palutena holds her staff out and summons forth a series of energy bullets that go to where the reticule once was, missing now that Pit had gotten out of the way.

Pit then fires a couple small arrow from his bow at Palutena while walking backwards, and as the young angel hoped she managed to dodge out of the way by gliding to the right. Both arrows didn't hit anything, which means the Chaos King wasn't looming on the left side of Palutena's body. The goddess of light then grabs her staff with both hands and launches her entire body at Pit like a missile, her speed of flight increasing three times halfway through in order to throw Pit off and prevent him from dodging.

Thus Pit takes the impact of Palutena's head straight on, which sends him flying right off the platform after he lets out a cry of pain. The platform continues to rise up as Pit lands on top of Palutena's temple face first, his body skidding a few inches along the hard stone while the Silver Bow is dropped from his hands for a brief moment. After launching herself, Palutena gets to her feet and slowly walks to the edge of the platform, glaring down with contempt at Pit a moment later.

But Pit quickly pushes his hands against the ground, grabbing onto the Silver Bow first things first before he uses his strength to get into his feet. The platform was high above him, causing Viridi to remark "I can activate the power of flight to get you back up there." "No! I can make it back up myself!" Pit defiantly proclaims as he holds one hand to his damaged gut and lets out a dry cough. Palutena flinches again as she sees Pit's determination shine through, and this time she has enough control of her body to lay one hand on her throbbing head and remark "Pit…help…"

But the Chaos Kin quickly forces obedience from Palutena's body and has her raise her staff coldly into the air, which causes a series of three lights to appear above her head. These lights shoot energy bullets down at Pit, who didn't pay any heed to them as he snapped his Silver Bow in two once more and charged towards the edge of the temple roof. Once there, he leaped as high as he could managed towards the thick ground underneath the platform while holding both halves of his Silver Bow beside his head. He then punctured into the rock wall with the tips of the two halves and began rapidly using them to climb up the side of the platform, going left and right to try and dodge the energy bullets being fired at him.

Some manage to hit his head, but he doesn't flinch from them during his entire ascension. This annoyed the Chaos Kin, who dispelled the lights summoning the bullets and decided to go for something more powerful. Palutena lowered her staff down at the path the young angel was going, and from it released a small red orb that traveled a short distance before it exploded in a bright burst of flames near Pit. The young angel's cries of pain aren't heard, causing Palutena to lower her head to check and see what had happened.

The smoke from the explosion obscured Palutena's sight, so she summoned a gale to blow it all away. There was a crater where Pit was before, but no sign of the angel himself. That's because Pit took the brunt of the explosion to launch himself to the right, and he quickly scaled back up onto the platform and got behind Palutena before she or the Chaos Kin could be aware of where he was.

Pit then formed his bow back together and took aim at Palutena's back, ready to fire under the assumption that a leech like the Chaos Kin would hide behind the goddess to protect itself. However, what stops him is the fact that a bit of dark smog seeps out from above Palutena, and with his intuition kicking in Pit angles his shot and fires a charged arrow at the darkness. A direct hit above Palutena's body causes the Chaos Kin's invisibility to be dropped, and the suddenness of the pain to it's body causes the otherworldly bug to lose it's grip on Palutena for a moment and drop to the ground beside her.

"There you are!" Pit exclaims before he runs angrily at the Chaos Kin. But as the bug lingers on the ground it uses whatever influence it can from this short of a distance to force Palutena to defend it. Palutena turns around and swings her shield out to smash Pit in the face, which causes him to be thrown against the ground, his wings grinding against the floor before he tumbles back a few more feet.

As Pit lands on his feet and rubs the front of his nose in pain, he looks forward and sees the Chaos Kin rising up and stabbing it's tail into the back of Palutena's body once more. This time, the Chaos Kin doesn't bother to turn invisible before it goes back to controlling Palutena's body, who lurches in pain before she is forced to swing the bottom of her staff at the ground, which causes three pillars of light to fly straight at Pit in a triangular spread. The young angel kicks himself up and runs forward, swerving past the right side of the central pillar and narrowly dodging the light of the rightmost one, which delays the time it takes for him to position his bow in front of his body.

He then fires a few shots at the Chaos Kin, but this time the bug is aware enough of his surroundings to drop down and wraps it's thorny legs around Palutena's body, hiding itself behind her to avoid getting hit by anymore of Pit's attacks. The young angel stops in place and proclaims angrily "You coward! Get out from behind Lady Palutena!" While he's busy being angry at the Chaos Kin, the monster forcibly draws Palutena's right arm up and causes the jewel of the staff to glow.

A moment later, Pit hears something approaching him from the side, and promptly leaps forward to avoid being struck by a gigantic laser that comes in from the side of the arena. After landing on the ground and rolling back onto his feet, the young angel finds himself directly in front of Palutena, and the pain could be seen in her eyes as the Chaos Kin glares at him with a widened eye and prepares to use the goddess for another move.

"No you don't!" Pit proclaims before he splits his bow in two, and in a rather risky move he goes for the Chaos Kin's legs wrapped around the right side of Palutena's body. The creature quickly pulls them back before they are cut, but in doing so it's body is exposed. This was what Pit was hoping for, and he quickly reassembles his bow and aims it at the center of the Chaos Kin's body. A charged shot is fired off, landing a direct hit that just scrapes the side of Palutena's body, much to Pit's disdain.

But in doing so, Pit was able to knock the Chaos Kin off of Palutena's body again, this time leaving the creature squirming on the ground behind the goddess. Pit then runs at the Chaos Kin after noticing that Palutena was not responding to the creature's attempts to control her for the moment, and after grabbing the creature by the tail he turns around and looks at the statue of Palutena looming at the opposite side of the arena.

"Hope I don't break it…" Pit remarks with a scoff before he drags the squirming Chaos Kin along the ground while making a run for the statue. Once he was halfway across the arena he uses all of his strength to throw the Chaos Kin at the statue, and the monster slams face first against it. This puts an end to its squirming as it drops to the ground and spreads it's legs out, and after panting for a few seconds Pit looks at the monster and proclaims triumphantly "I…I did it! I actually did it!"

He didn't waste any time in turning around to look at Palutena, who weakly stepped forward for a few seconds before streams of darkness erupt from her spasming body, the Chaos Kin's influence now dispelled entirely from her as she loses her grip on her staff and collapses onto the right side of her body while letting out a pained but relieved sounding gasp of air. Pit runs up to her and skids forward while bending his knees, looking into the eyes of the goddess of light as she tries to regain a grasp of her surroundings.

"P-Pit…" Palutena remarks as she tries to force herself upright, and with a concerned extending of his right hand Pit remarks in an apologetic tone "I'm sorry Lady Palutena…I-I didn't want to hurt you…Please, are you alright?" As Palutena gets the chance to lay only one hand on the ground to support herself, Viridi suddenly proclaims urgently "Pit! Behind you!" The Chaos Kin had not been truly defeated, as it quickly sprung to it's feet and ran quickly at Palutena's body, refusing to accept defeat like this.

It moved so fast that Pit barely turned his head to see it before it took off, but before it reached Palutena's body Riku suddenly teleported in front of it while wearing the garb of his Light Form, an angered expression on his face as he took his glowing diamond katana in both hands and swung at the Chaos Kin's body in a downward arc to try and cut the monster down for good. However, his swing ends up going right through the Chaos King, as in the monster somehow phased past Riku's blade.

After avoiding death without a care, the Chaos Kin goes right for Palutena, flying behind her and stabbing his tail right through her back, forcing Pit to watch as the hook of the tail rips through the center of her chest and starts to tug on the entirety of her body. Palutena groans in pain at first, but then the true nature of the Chaos Kin's actions are revealed as it pulls hard on Palutena's body and tears from her the phantasmal green essence of her soul.

Riku turns around and proclaims in all of his rage and confusion "NO!" While Pit stares on, wide-eyed with distraught as Palutena yells out in pain and drops to her knees, her left arm held up with a tearful look on her face as all of a sudden her body stiffens up and slowly becomes encased in an emerald shell. Meanwhile, the Chaos Kin runs to the edge of the arena and throws Palutena's soul to the sky, allowing it to float in place before it flies at it and swings it's hooked tail at the sky, opening an eye-shaped tear in the fabric of time and space that leads to a chaotic, orange and brown realm.

The Chaos Kin then grabs onto Palutena's soul once more and slips into the tear it made, with Viridi exclaiming "It's escaping into the Chaos Vortex!" Pit gasped in shock before saying to Viridi "You have to help me fly RIGHT NOW!" The tear into the Chaos Vortex was shrinking rapidly, but Pit used all of his determination to force himself onto his feet and dash towards the edge of the arena, with Viridi saying in a tone of surprise "O-Of course!" Before setting Pit's wings aglow.

Riku holds his arm out and exclaims "Pit! Wait a second!" The young angel doesn't hear him in time before he leaps towards the Chaos Vortex, which shrunk just enough that Pit rams into it and immediately rebounds onto the arena, tumbling a couple feet before sliding stomach-side first across the ground. Riku slams his fist into the ground as he returns to his base form, cracking it apart out of sheer strength while angrily proclaiming "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

But he wasn't despairing yet, for as Viridi proclaimed "Now what do we do?!" Another voice that had not been heard in quite some time exclaims as a warning to the two heroes "Out of the way! Coming through!" Blazing through the sky while riding the Lightning Chariot was Dark Pit, whose voice Pit recognizes from afar as he weakly rises to his feet and finds that the power of flight has already been lost on his wings.

Using the Lightning Chariot to ram into what remained of the tear in the sky caused it to shatter apart into a more chaotic gash that stayed permanently in the air. But the force of the impact caused Dark Pit to be launched right off the chariot cart and onto the ground beside Pit, who was greatly puzzled to see his dark self here. Meanwhile, Phosphora is forced to give chase to the Lightning Chariot, which galloped off after opening the way back up to the Chaos Vortex.

Pit, with a quick glance at the tear to the Chaos Vortex, says in a puzzled tone "What the…?" Before he can get any answers by glancing at Dark Pit, the black angel weakly lifts his body up and swings his right arm out while proclaiming "There's no time to explain! We need to save Palutena's soul, NOW!" Pit then turns to glance back at the statue that once was the proud goddess of light, a melancholy look in his eyes as Viridi says to him "He's absolutely right…"

As the goddess of nature summons a pillar of light around Pit and Riku, she then remarks "But you've been through quite a lot just now. Let's get you back here to heal real quick, and then we'll pursue the Chaos Kin." As the two heroes are called back to Viridi's domain, Riku finds himself feeling a sense of dread after he failed to harm the Chaos Kin, especially as he stares at the realm of madness that is the Chaos Vortex…

_Next Time: The Last Assault_


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: The Chaos Vortex**

With Palutena's soul dragged away by the nefarious Chaos Kin, and the goddess of light herself converted into an emerald statue, tensions were most certainly high between Pit, Viridi and Riku as the two heroes quickly healed themselves up at Viridi's domain and readied themselves to go out into the Chaos Vortex. Thankfully, Dark Pit has reappeared after an oddly long absence ready to assist, though Viridi remarked that he had gone on ahead of everyone else.

After Pit was equipped with a palm weapon with Viridi's face on it "for good luck nothing more" the goddess of nature insisted, the young angel set out for the mission by running straight at the magic door and ramming it open while proclaiming "I'm coming for you Lady Palutena!" Viridi has to be quick to activate the power of flight before Pit falls onto the platform above Palutena's Temple. Pit and Riku head off towards the large gash to the Chaos Vortex opened up by the Lightning Chariot, and it wasn't very long before the two of them were inside the chaotic realm.

The sky was orange, complete with a light that imitated the brightness of a sunset. There was no such thing as land below the flight path of the two heroes, and there was tons of debris spread around the air that was either taken from or based on various locations. Pit could even recognize a copy of one of the temples in Skyworld nearby, though his attention was more drawn towards the very realistic, pale blue eyes glaring at them from far within the realm.

"This is insane!" Pit exclaims. "Well duh, it is called the 'Chaos Vortex'." Viridi replies sarcastically. As Pit tries to keep himself from going crazy from all the sights in this realm, he was immediately greeted by a swarm of twitching eyes that appears in front of him out of nowhere, and both he and Virdi exclaims in a tone of utter fright "AAAAAH!" Both Pit and Riku pause for a moment as the eyes vanish, and once the awkward silence comes to an end Viridi remarks "…Well, can't say I was expecting that…"

Pit places one hand on his beating chest and remarks "And we just started in this realm." The young angel then turns to look at Riku, who seemed to be sweating a bit despite the two of them not even coming across any foes. "I didn't think you'd be frightened by this place." Pit remarks in a tone of surprise, only for Riku to quickly say "I'm not afraid of this place Pit…"

"But you're sweating." Pit remarks, followed by Riku turning his head and telling him with a firm expression "This realm…Something about it is venomous to my body." 'You can't be serious. This is the worst time for you to be getting poisoned." Pit says in a concerned tone, and the teenage Overlord tells him as he goes back to looking in front of him "It's not like that…The realm is slowly draining my energy away."

"We haven't even come across the Chaos Kin yet. Viridi, can't you shield Riku from the negative side-effects of being here?" Pit inquires, and the goddess of nature replies "I've never even heard of someone getting poisoned by the Chaos Vortex. Of course, no one's ever really gone inside of this place without being a soul before now. Just be thankful you aren't affected, Pit." "But Riku-" Before Pit can finish showing concern for his ally, he is blinded by a flash of light coming from Riku.

The teenage Overlord had switched to his Light Form, and he lets out a sigh of relief before saying "Don't worry about me…Changing forms seems to have weakened the effect of this realm on me." "Which means it's still affecting you…" Pit says in a tone of concern as the two heroes start to run across phantom black arms that extend out from nowhere to try and block their path. Pit has to jerk back to avoid running into the hand.

"It'll be a while before we'll have to worry about my condition again. Just stay focused, the realm is going to try and distract us with whatever illusions it can possibly muster." Riku remarks as he swerves around the many hands that appear from nowhere, but Pit ends up running right through one and remarking "These feel real to me!" "That's just part of the illusion. You can't be hurt if you don't believe in the pain." Riku says.

After passing the phantom hands, a swirl of darkness warps the atmosphere of the Chaos Vortex, blanketing everything in black while somehow inverting the colors of Pit and Riku's bodies. "O…K…Maybe the Chaos Vortex's batteries are dead?" Pit remarks to try and keep spirits up with his humor, but Viridi makes a mistake of assuming he's being an idiot and tells him "This place doesn't run on batteries, dingle brain! Anyway, it doesn't matter. You two are going the right way…I think."

"What do you mean, you think?" Pit says, followed by Viridi saying to him "Don't worry about it, we'll be fine." Pit then focuses on ahead and starts to notice some enemies appearing that look like copies of Underworld Troops and Centurions, only with their colors inverted. "What the…?" He says, and Viridi remarks "The Chaos Kin's very good at copying things it sees while in it's realm, but don't worry, it won't be making a copy of any of you anytime soon."

"Because we're too hard to copy?" Riku inquires, and Viridi replies with "Something like that." "Speaking of copies, what happened to Pittoo? I thought we would've run into him by now." Pit inquires with a bit of concern, followed by the goddess of nature stating "Beats me. The Chaos Vortex is like an ever-changing maze. For all we know Dark Pit got lost, especially since he went in here before you two."

"Well, Pittoo has always been reckless…Come to think about it, where was he for the last three years?" Pit inquires as a door of light appears to take the two heroes back to what can be considered the "regular" Chaos Vortex. Pit and Riku then find themselves covered in a black substance while Viridi says "Now that you mention it, I never actually saw Dark Pit even once after you got trapped in the Ring of Chaos."

"Well that's weird, and pretty concerning…Hope he was alright." Pit says, and then he goes on to notice that he was covered in black and exclaimed "Awww man! Now my only tunic is ruined!" But thankfully, the choice to clean himself of this black filth came rather quickly in the form of a hot springs waterfall nearby. "Awww yeah! A hot sprin-gargleplffffftt!" Pit was so happy to see the hot springs that he ends up keeping his mouth open long enough to swallow some of the holy water.

He was cleaned of the black filth alongside Riku, but nearly choked on the water in the process while Viridi remarked in a mocking tone "Hey, you've got your color back." "And all it cost me was some water up my nose…" Pit says in a rather annoyed tone as he hacks the rest of the water out of his mouth. "Sorry that happened, Pit." Riku says, and Pit comments afterwards after a sigh "I guess I was relying too much on hot springs lately…"

After some giant Monoeyes try to block the vision of Pit and Riku to no avail, Viridi remarks "We've almost found the Chaos Kin. But be careful, it might try and trick you with some copies of itself." Soon after that, one of those Chaos Kin copies appears, which Pit destroys with a single charged shot from the Viridi Palm. "Go figure. This is going to get annoying pretty fast." Pit remarks as even more copies of the Chaos Kin start to buzz through the air.

Pit and Riku take down the Chaos Kin clones and then fly towards a swarm of broken rocks, where one nuisance is replaced with another one in the form of Pit clones made entirely out of pitch black darkness. "Are you serious? I thought you said the Chaos Kin couldn't make copies of me?" Pit says in a tone of disbelieving annoyance towards Viridi as he avoids attacks from his shadows. "They aren't copies. They are shadows." Viridi explains.

"Or maybe they are Dark Pit's shadows, since he is in the realm with us." Riku assumes, and Pit says in a puzzled tone "A shadow of a shadow?" "Then that would make these Dark Dark Pits." Viridi says in a humored tone, and Pit groans and says "You just had to use that joke, didn't you?"

"I would never have an opportunity like that again." Viridi says, proud of herself for her rather bad joke. This was followed by Pit saying "Besides, you can't compare these shadows to either me or Pittoo. They aren't handsome at all." "…You know Pit, you really do open yourself to Viridi insulting you quite often." Riku says in a rather dry tone before Viridi says "He's right you know."

"Like she wouldn't do it anyways." Pit mumbles to himself as he gets rid of the last of his shadow selves. And when those shadows were defeated, one glance to the left revealed the creature they have been searching the last few minutes for, the real Chaos Kin. "THAT Chaos Kin's the real deal! Take him down!" Viridi says to confirm the heroes' suspicions, and Pit and Riku charge at the Chaos Kin as the creature flees between two islands that have buildings acting as a rather eerie set of teeth.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?!" Pit exclaims out of sheer rage as he tries to shoot at the rather nimble Chaos Kin, who swerves around between the buildings to get out of the way of Pit. As the two heroes head into an icy tunnel, Riku draws out his katana and proclaims "Keep firing on the Chaos Kin, Pit, I'll get in close and cut that monster down!" His anger was a little less than Pit's own, but you wouldn't believe that with how quickly he flew at the Chaos Kin and performed a wide swing of his blade that covered a large space and broke through the roof of the tunnel.

But the Chaos Kin avoids the attack with a quick sprint forward, which makes Riku glare at the creature in rage and quickly pursue after it, leaving a streak of light behind him. "Time to speed up, Pit!" Viridi exclaims, and the speed Pit flies at is doubled so he can keep up with Riku and the Chaos Kin. Passing the icy tunnel as it collapses, Pit comes across a series of eyes in the middle of the air and a singular eye that acts as a warp space to a different part of the Chaos Vortex.

"My face feels like it's going to blow off!" Pit exclaims due to the high speeds he was flying, followed by Viridi saying "Put on your big-boy pants and stay on the Chaos Kin!' Pit tried to keep up his aim on the Chaos Kin as Riku continued to chase after the monster, moving around and using his sword to slice up the floating islands in this bright sky replica as he tries to attack the Chaos Kin.

"Stay still damn it!" Riku exclaims in anger as he takes his sword in both hands and infuses it with tons of light energy, swinging it out to send a gash of light as large as an island after the Chaos Kin. This attack destroys a swarm of Exo-Tanks flying through the sky, but fails to touch the Chaos Kin as it quickly flies off to an inverted eye in order to escape the heroes. "Get back here!" Riku exclaims before he speeds off after it, and Pit says "I think Riku has almost as much of a grudge against the Chaos Kin as I do" as he heads for the eye that the Chaos Kin went through.

"He's never been so angry before though…" Viridi remarks in a tone of surprise while Pit uses her specially designed palm to fire at the Chaos Kin, being a little more successful in striking the creature due to Riku putting it within firing range with his rapid and furious attacks. "The closest Riku ever got to being angry before this was when you set off that first Reset Bomb." Pit says as he tries to navigate through a dark realm filled with collapsing rock spires and copies of Underworld troops.

"I don't feel sorry for the Chaos Kin being on the opposite side of his wrath after all the trouble he's caused, but it's still a scary thought to imagine Riku turning that anger against us…" Viridi says, and Pit remarks as he gets a successful charged shot on the Chaos Kin while Riku managed to finally hit the monster directly with his blade "Yeah, it's times like this that I'm glad to have him on OUR side instead of the opposite."

"Oh, by the way Pit, you should know that your flight time is about to run out." Viridi changes subjects quickly after Pit was done talking, and with a determined expression Pit exclaimed "I don't care about that! If Riku's being damaged by this realm even in his current state, then I have to keep pressing on against the Chaos Kin just in case he needs to be called back." "Even if your wings burn up?" Viridi inquires, and Pit exclaims "Lady Palutena needs her soul back! She's not going to lose it to this foul creature!"

"You know Pit, your loyalty to Palutena is either commendable…Or really foolish." Viridi remarks in a rather disbelieving tone as Pit and Riku push on through yet another eye back into the real Chaos Vortex, and the young angel exclaims "Now's not the time for that Viridi! Just keep me flying!" The Chaos Kin, now in a panicked state as it continues to be pursued by it's two angry foes, ends up being less careful with it's flight as it rams right through bits and pieces of the temples that it had copied inside of here.

With Riku rapidly firing waves of light from his sword and Pit using the Viridi Palm's charged shots, it doesn't take long for the Chaos Kin to become weakened enough that it ends up not paying attention and rams right into the side of a large chunk of rock, which throws it up in a dizzied state and gives the two heroes a chance to put an end to the monster. Pit fires another charged shot, pulling back on his hand to give it the maximum amount of force, followed by Riku putting a lot of light energy into his blade and appearing above the Chaos Kin the moment Pit's attack connects, where a downward swing cleaves the air of this realm with a large scar of light and sends the Chaos Kin hurtling towards a lone island down below.

It wasn't killed yet, as evidenced by the creature flapping it's wings moments later, but it was weakened enough that all it would take at that point is a few more attacks to finish it off. In fact, Pit was saying merrily as Viridi had him descend towards the island "And now it's time to get Lady Palutena's spirit back!" Only for him to be completely surprised alongside Riku as they land on the island and find that the Chaos Kin had somehow completely vanished from sight.

"What? How? We were just looking at it!" Pit exclaims in sheer disbelief as he moves his head around in search of the Chaos Kin. "It must have turned invisible and scurried off to heal up a bit. That damn bug is more resilient than I thought." Riku laments in anger as he keeps his sword drawn, which puzzled Pit before he looked on ahead and saw some Monoeyes and a couple Aurum drones ahead of him.

"Oh great, the Chaos Kin is tossing out more illusions?" Pit says, and doesn't seem at all worried as the monsters fire at him. "Yeah yeah, I'm getting used to your tricks by now, Chaos Kin!" Pit boasts with a confident pumping of his fist, and as Riku flies forth to go attack the monsters Pit is hit by the projectiles and takes damage from each and every one of them. He's pushed back a couple inches, and he remarks in a tone of surprise afterwards "Wait, now they are real?!"

Before more projectiles can hit him, Pit runs to the left and starts firing at the enemies in conjunction with Riku's sword slashes, all the while having Viridi say to him "Seems like the Chaos Kin is whipping up some enemies to wear you and Riku down while it recovers. But it's going to use up even more of it's energy in the process." "Seems rather redundant to drain it's own energy while it's trying to heal itself up." Riku remarks afterwards.

"You're the one who assumed it was healing. Like you said, the Chaos Kin is really resilient. You think I would've let it stay alive if it wasn't?" Viridi remarks, and Pit says to her afterwards "I bet you didn't even try to destroy it with a Reset Bomb!" "I-I…Well, you see…ummmm…" Viridi was left at a completely utter loss for words after Pit pointed out the flaw in her earlier statement, but she quickly fired back up after a few moments to exclaim "Shut up! I didn't think it would work at the time!"

"It's not a natural creature! You said the Reset Bombs only work on unnatural things!" Pit exclaims, and Viridi tells him angrily "Well what'd you expect me to drop a Reset Bomb on where it would actually hurt the Chaos Kin?! If I let it out of the Lunar Sanctum, then it would've escaped into the Chaos Vortex before the explosion could kill it!" "Would both of you just stop arguing about that?! We need to take down these enemies and lure the Chaos Kin back out so we can destroy it!" Riku stops tolerating the bickering between Viridi and Pit and demands they regain their focus, and both of them quickly stutter out an apology before Pit focused back on the battle.

"How many enemies do you think the Chaos Kin will throw at us?!" Pit inquires as he and Riku take down the first wave. "Beats me, but you're on the second wave. I'll keep track for you, so keep on your toes!" The second wave had an Orne in the center of the island protected by the Aurum drones known as Rezdas. "He can create Ornes?!" Pit exclaims in a tone of surprise, and Riku says "This isn't a problem Pit…"

With a draw of his sword behind his back and charging of his blade, Riku swings his sword out and fires a wave of light that cuts through the Rezdas and strikes the Orne, the purifying light taking it down instantly. This dealt with the second wave, but Riku ended up slouching forward a bit while trying to catch his breath afterwards, showing that the realm was starting to negatively affect him again.

"Riku, stop using up so much energy! You're going to end up overtaxing your body!" Viridi advises bluntly, and Riku grits his teeth for a moment before stating "I'm doing fine Viridi! Just worry about Pit's condition!" The third wave comes in after that, consisting of the basic Aurum drones and some Forces of Nature foes that have been miniaturized to be roughly tall enough to reach the top of Pit's feet.

The Aurum drones teleport randomly around the edge of the arena while firing projectiles every third teleportation, leading Pit to comment as he fires at the drones "These guys are doing their best Game and Watch impersonations." "Well look at Mr. Game Aficionado here. You should probably know that the place is crawling with copies of my Cacaws." Pit looks over his shoulder and notices the tiny Cacaws coming at him, doing their strange dance that is meant to confuse those they touch.

"Ugh, I remember these guys. Why did you make them so annoying?" Pit says as he turns around and tries to shoot down at them with regular heart-shaped shots, but they were so small that it was hard to do so. This Riku cleaned up the Cacaws by running at them and dragging his sword along the ground before Pit could get confused, all the while remarking "We never even encountered Cacaws before, Pit."

"Of course we did Riku." Pit says as he goes back to firing at the remaining Aurum drones. "Back in Chapter 11, when we were going through the Reset Bomb Forest. Don't tell me you forgot about them?" "I'm not in the mood for your weird comments about 'chapters' or 'loading screens' right now Pit." Riku bluntly replies after the angel has taken down the remainder of troops in this particular wave.

"Fourth wave incoming! Also, Pit's right you know, you did fight Cacaws. You must be having some memory issues Riku." Viridi comments, and after an annoyed growl Riku says "Forget about that then!" The two heroes then deal with some Belunkas that drop Armins onto the battlefield, followed by a swarm of Shootflies and a couple of thieving Plutons, who try to get their greedy hands on Riku and Pit's weapons, earning them some punches and cuts for their efforts. The Shootflies are then shot down, even though the presence of projectile fire causes them to awaken and screech annoyingly for a few seconds.

Finally comes the sixth wave, where Riku finds himself panting more and more as the Chaos Kin summons some other Forces of Nature soldiers onto the battlefield. "Hey wait a second! Those are Boom Stompers and Bumpety Bombs! The Chaos Kin is tarnishing the images of my troops!" Viridi exclaims in exasperated anger, followed by Pit telling her as he fires at the fake troops "You know, you could've chosen better names for them than that…"

"She's got the mind and body of a child, are you really that surprised Pit?" Riku remarks to take a shot at Viridi, who bluntly replies to him "Hey, I'm allowed to name my children whatever I want. If we're going to talk about better names, how about you come up with a better name than 'Light Form' for your current state, huh?" "…I don't recall ever calling this state 'Light Form'." Riku says, legitimately forgetting an instance where he done what he was accused of.

"Now you two are bickering about something unimportant!" Pit remarks as he takes down the last of the current wave of enemies, and Riku says "I wasn't really arguing Pit, just bringing up a valid point." "Besides, haven't you noticed that the bickering is actually keeping you two energized during this battle?" Viridi comments right after, and Pit blinks a couple times and says "Huh, now that you mention it, I haven't really felt tired so far."

"Good, cause the seventh wave is approaching fast!" Viridi exclaims to swiftly change the focus back towards the battle, where a Shildeen appears to protect a single Underworld harpy, and said shield was guarded by Monoliths and Aurum Quoils. "I'll take down the shield again!" Riku exclaims as he draws his sword back and prepares to slash, only for Viridi to say to him before he can "Oh no you don't! Let Pit handle the shield, you can back him up by dealing with the Quoils before they can make him dizzy."

As Pit walks back and forth to shoot between the rotating Monoliths, while Riku takes Viridi's advice and cuts down the Quoils without wasting power via firing a wave of energy at the shield. "See? It's all working out." Viridi says proudly to the heroes, with Riku begrudgingly admitting "…I guess I was using up an excessive amount of energy." "Glad to see you change your mind. Now you're on to the eighth wave!" Viridi exclaims the moment Pit finished off the harpy behind the shield.

"I thought you said the Chaos Kin would eventually run out of energy?!" Pit exclaims in surprise towards the number mentioned, and Viridi says "You're definitely wearing it down. Just keep going!" The next wave consisted of an Orne and a swarm of Komaytoes, and as the two heroes work to take down the Komaytos Pit's curiosity gets the better of him as he ends up saying "Now that I think about it, don't Komaytos look a lot like little Metroids?"

"No! Shhh! Stop right there!" Viridi exclaims rather suddenly, followed by a puzzled Pit saying "All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr-" "Lah lah lah lah! I can't HEAR you!" Viridi responds rather prominently, and before Pit can question this any further the goddess of nature exclaims "This world and that world have NOTHING to do with each other! So don't go around spreading rumors!"

"You know, I usually don't acknowledge these comments any further than brushing them off as strange, but you do realize I've been to the Metroid world already, right Viridi? I mean, Pit also did briefly mention Samus and I discussed Kirby-" "NINTH WAVE APPROACHING!" Viridi screams at the top of her lungs before Riku can finish his sentence, and it was true at that point that the Metro-Errr, Komaytos had been finished off. Pit was starting to feel a little fatigue at this point, which didn't help when the next wave started off with an Underworld tank.

"…Any chance of you sending down a Drink of the Gods, Viridi?" Pit asks as he tries to catch his breath. Before Viridi can respond to his request, the tank turns around and sets it's sights on Pit by summoning forth a pillar shaped reticule around his body. Ready to fire, Pit was only saved when a certain black angel dove down from the sky and delivered a resounding kick right to the front of the tank's armor, which was strong enough to push the tank right off the edge of the platform and to it's demise.

Dark Pit then lands on the ground in front of Pit after the recoil of the kick, holding his Dark Pit Staff in his right hand while remarking somewhat smugly "Looks like you could use a little help." Pit lets out a sigh of relief, but then quickly says "We were handling this just fine on our own. Glad to see you decided to stop being lost though." "Save the comments for later, we have to reclaim Palutena's soul from the Chaos Kin." Dark Pit responds in his usually serious tone before he takes his weapon and starts firing at the bulky enemies being summoned by the Chaos Kin.

"Why do you suddenly care about helping us out anyways?" Pit inquires, and after firing upon one major enemy Dark Pit lets Riku take over the fight for a bit as he glances over his right shoulder and explains "While you were a ring? I was less than nothing. Unconscious. Un-MYSELF. We're connected. No you, no me. Two sides of the same coin." Pit's eyes widen in surprise as the implications of Dark Pit's words are understood by him, and he says while waving his arms out "That's crazy! So that's why you have to help me save Palutena!"

With Pit running up beside Dark Pit, the two point their weapons at the horde of enemies and exclaim together "OK then. Let's take these foes down!" The two angels then run at their foes without hesitation, the ensuing onslaught of projectiles from both their weapons and the enemies projectiles filling the sky and causing Riku to stare on with a merry smile on his face from the edge of the platform. "Heheh, those two are an unstoppable combination." Riku remarks to Viridi.

"Yep. Even the Chaos Kin's resistance looks like nothing now that those two are working together!" Viridi exclaims happily, and Dark Pit says "Is it really that surprising?" Riku then starts panting, this time accompanied by a warm sweat across all parts of his body. He was definitely starting to lose a lot of his stamina from a combination of the battle and the realm's effects on him, and thus decided to slow down and let the two Pits handle the enemies for the moment. After all, he needed to save his energy for the Chaos Kin.

As Pit and Dark Pit take down the enemies quickly, the white angel remarks "So the Chaos Kin is copying Aurum enemies that are copies of the Forces of Nature. That's really weird." "And not very original." Dark Pit remarks afterwards, and it was at this point that Pit decided to switch topics to something a little more pressing since he had the time to do so "So Pittoo, where were you during the Aurum invasion?"

"Destroying Aurum drones, what else? Also, can you seriously stop calling me Pittoo?" Dark Pit expresses his annoyance at the nickname throughout his entire response, and Pit says to him afterwards "But it doesn't feel right to call you Dark Pit. After all, you're not evil, just aggressive." "Well fine, I get that, but you can't tell me that you couldn't have come up with a better nickname than 'Pittoo'." Dark Pit says.

"Hmmm…Pittwin? Pit the 2nd? Blapi?" Pit's suggestions for a new name just cause Dark Pit to remark rather dryly "…You really can't come up with a better one." "Guess not. I'm not the goodest when it comes to words." Pit says while chuckling briefly to himself at the end, and while those two had a conversation with themselves they were destroying enemies with absolute ease. They don't even seem to realize that they had already made it to the twelfth wave of enemies once they were done until Viridi exclaims "Good going you two! We're almost to the end, I can feel it!" "You say that, but the Chaos Kin keeps sending out enemies!" Dark Pit exclaims as he and Pit work to take down a couple copies of the Forces of Nature beetles that jump around the center of the arena.

"Well when you get the ability to sense the Chaos Kin's energy levels, then you'll be allow to have a smart mouth, Dark Pit!" Viridi responds, and this causes Riku to quickly call her out by saying "You told me that the Chaos Kin being from another dimension meant that it's energy couldn't be detected!" "No, I said that it meant YOU couldn't detect it's energy. I never said I couldn't. Look, just don't question these things and get back to the battle!" Viridi bluntly replies.

After Pit and Dark Pit defeat the beetles, Viridi exclaims "You're at the thirteenth wave. I'm sure this is it!" The two angels stand back-to-back, with Dark Pit proclaiming "Then it's time!" "For what?" Pit says in confusion before his dark self replies "Our pre-boss battle rallying cry!" "Oh, right. Ok…Ahem…"

After Pit clears his throat out, he swings his right arm out and proclaims, alternating between himself and Dark Pit "Filth of the land, hear our words!" "And see our actions!" "I am Pit, servant of the goddess of light!" "And I am Dark Pit, servant to no other but myself!" "Together we will rain death upon you!" As they say that last part of the first verse in unison, they walk around in a circle and use their weapons to destroy the Skuttlers riding on Monolith platforms.

"So, anyone who wants to die, step right up!" "And anyone who doesn't want to die, too bad!" Dark Pit and Pit then turn themselves towards an Aurum saucer that appeared just at that moment, throwing their strongest charged shot out to destroy the saucer completely. With that enemy defeated, the two angels give each other a clap and proclaim triumphantly "Aw, yeah!"

"Nice speech. Did you spend all night making it? Or is that just your twin-telepathy taking effect?" Viridi remarks sarcastically, and Riku says in a complimenting tone "Well it's pretty good for just being made up on the spot." But now that the last wave of enemies had been dealt with, it was finally time for the Chaos Kin to reveal himself. The insect burst out from the ground in the center of the island, and Dark Pit exclaimed "You've finally shown yourself!" "It's game over, Chaos Kin!" Pit says as he aims his weapon at the Chaos Kin.

The Chaos Kin tries to escape the island, but Viridi quickly summons a barrier around the island to trap it inside. As it rebounds and lands on the ground, looking around in a panic, Pit exclaims "Thanks Viridi, you're always thinking!" But before Pit and Dark Pit attack the Chaos Kin, Riku steps past the two angels, brushing Pit aside with an extension of his left arm outward before he holds his right hand up and says coldly "Let me handle this."

Riku then flips his arm around and clenches his hand into a fist while glaring bitterly at the Chaos Kin. Before the creature can even budge, tiny chains of light erupt from the ground and wrap themselves around the Chaos Kin's legs. "You AREN'T getting away this time you monster!" Riku exclaims in a bitter rage before his expression becomes eerily stoic and he approaches the squirming Chaos Kin.

Lifting one hand towards the sky, Riku rips open a gash of light above the Chaos Kin, pouring his energy towards the rift while proclaiming towards the Chaos Kin with all of his rage "How DARE you exist, monster! Your existence is a plague on reality! You dared to rob Palutena of her soul, you plunged the planet in chaos for three years, trapping myself and Pit inside of a ring and robbing Dark Pit of his free will in the process! Now here you stand, trapped and on the verge of death, just like you should've been long before this point. With your annihilation, I will amend for not taking care of you the moment you broke free from the Lunar Sanctum! Now die, CHAOS KIN!"

Using the gash as the entry point, Riku summons forth a rain of light needles that bombards the Chaos Kin mercilessly, all the while Riku uses all of his energy to power the attack, failing to realize that by letting himself be absorbed by his anger greatly weakened the strength of his Light Form, and in turn the power of his attack. Because he couldn't recognize this, Riku was greatly confused when the Chaos Kin was not dying from his attack, despite the painful screech it unleashes as the needles hit it's skin.

"Die damn it! Just DIE!" Riku's attitude was the complete opposite of what Pit had come to expect, but he didn't feel any bit of pity for the Chaos Kin so he didn't bother to stop Riku. When the teenage Overlord's onslaught was proving ineffectual despite the high intensity of his attack, he sealed the gash up and immediately drew his katana out. But now he was madly sweating from using a ridiculous amount of energy, but he refused to let himself collapse as he ignited his blade with holy light and ran right at the still chained Chaos Kin.

"RAAAAAAH!" Riku leaped into the air and prepared to bring his blade down upon the Chaos Kin with his remaining rage guiding him. But as if fate just loved to cruelly play with his expectations, the teenage Overlord finds himself dropped out of his Light Form, his eyelids forcibly beginning to shut from a lack of energy inside of his body, much to his disdain. "No…way…" Riku remarks in a weakened tone before he collapses onto the ground face first, with the Chaos Kin being broken out of the chains a moment later.

But before the insect can quickly go to grab Riku's soul, Pit and Dark Pit leap into action and run at the bug, with Pit throwing a punch into the Chaos Kin's face as it leaps at Riku's body. "Viridi, get Riku out of here! We'll handle things from here!" Pit exclaims quickly, with the goddess of nature summoning a pillar of light around Riku's body as he lifts his head up slowly and says in a very strained tone "No…Pit…I still need to help…"

But he couldn't finish his sentence before Viridi takes him out of there, and as Pit and Dark Pit fire their attacks off at the weakened Chaos Kin Viridi states "I'm getting Riku right to the hot springs. He looks absolutely terrible." This is followed by Pit stating "He pushed himself too far this time. But I can understand why he's angry at the Chaos Kin…" Pit then turns around to keep his aim on the scurrying Chaos Kin, but Dark Pit was there to kick the monster into the air via a direct hit to the face.

"Devouring souls is gruesome, but devouring one from a goddess is just going too far!" Dark Pit exclaims as he and Pit raise their weapons up and cross their charged shots through the Chaos Kin. The piercing element of the Dark Pit Staff does significant damage to the creature, and the purifying aspect of the Viridi Palm does enough damage to finish the Chaos Kin off. "And that's why you're history, Chaos Kin!" Pit exclaims as the body of the Chaos Kin falls to the ground, where it is unable to contain it's own energies and promptly explodes in a chaotic burst of darkness that leaves it's body parts charred on the ground in the form of an empty husk.

Released from the Chaos Kin's remains is Palutena's soul, which flies over to her emerald covered form that Viridi had called in just moments ago. The moment the soul touches the statue, Palutena returns to her original state in a flash of green light, and immediately she lets out a gasp of air in relief. Pit turns to look at Palutena, and watches as she gives him her familiar bright smile for the time in what was three years for her and says happily "Pit…"

Pit kneels down and says to her "I'm so relieved that you're ok…" And it looked as though the two were to hug in celebration of their reunion. Meanwhile, Dark Pit glances at the charred corpse of the Chaos Kin and whispers "Well, guess this isn't a bad way for this to end…" He then turns away from the corpse and actually cracks a genuine smile of happiness as he prepares to walk off. But the Chaos Kin had one last trick up it's persistent sleeve, and that was to take the form of a tendril of darkness and fly straight at Dark Pit, wrapping itself around his body tightly and dragging him straight off the edge of the island.

As Dark Pit struggles to pull himself free, Pit notices this event and proclaims in a worried tone "Oh no…Pittoo!" Without hesitation, Pit runs and leaps off the edge of the island, diving at Dark Pit while proclaiming "Viridi! I need to fly!" But as Viridi reminds him "You already used the power of flight! Don't you remember? If I enable it again now, your wings will catch fire!" Pit tries to reach for Dark Pit, failing to have the proper speed necessary to do so, which leads to him explaining to Viridi desperately "The Chaos Kin is going to destroy Pittot! Can't you see what's at stake her? I don't care if my wings catch fire!"

"No way! Just forget about it! I'm pulling you out!" Viridi bluntly said, hiding her concern behind her choice of words. "No! Stop! If we don't help him right now, we won't have another chance! I'm begging you, Viridi! Let me fly! Now!" Dark Pit's pitiful state combined with Pit's determination forces Viridi to change her mind and activate the power of flight, which causes Pit's body to be wrapped up in a shell of flames as he speeds up towards Dark Pit, all the while the dark angel struggles to say "Help…me…"

Fighting against the friction of the air to head for Dark Pit, Pit ends up taking ten seconds to finally get within arms reach, but he was unnaturally quiet by the time he grabbed hold of him and threw the Chaos Kin off with his other arm. Viridi then wrapped both angels in a pillar of light and proclaimed "Ok! I'm pulling you out now!"

The next few seconds were a blur for Dark Pit, as he finds himself lying on his stomach in a part of the Chaos Vortex meant to copy Palutena's temple. Dark Pit's body was burnt up quite a bit, but his immediate concern was the condition of the real Pit. "How's Pit?" He weakly asks, and hesitantly Viridi had to tell him "Pit…Pit's in bad shape." As the vision returns to Dark Pit's eyes, he sees Pit lying face first on the ground. His body was charred much like his own, but the real damage was shown in the form of his wings…

Gone were the white feathers that spread proudly beside him as he flew through the air with Palutena or Viridi's assistance. Instead, all that remained of Pit's wings were scorched feathers and bloody bones. "He can't fly. He's barely breathing…" Viridi explains, and this realization of Pit's condition causes Dark Pit to only rise halfway up off the ground before he leans one hand on his kneecap and looks away, feeling nothing but melancholy for what had happened to Pit in his attempt to save his life.

Palutena then walks into the area, approaching Pit much to Viridi's confusion "Palutena? What are you doing?" Palutena doesn't respond to her as she slowly kneels down, picking Pit's body off of the ground and lay it in the palm of her hands while looking at his closed eyelids and tired expression with a reminiscing look in her own eyes. As Palutena remembers all that Pit had done for her along with the fact that for all that trouble, Pit has not once gotten to fly by himself, Palutena ends up shedding a few tears as she murmurs out "Oh, Pit…"

As Palutena looks towards the sky, Dark Pit got to his feet and contemplated all that had happened. The Chaos Kin may have been defeated and Palutena's soul was back to where it belonged, but Riku and Pit were entirely out of commission, and Pit was on the verge of death. Even worse, Hades was still out there, and there was no doubt that he would take advantage of this situation to attack the humans once more. Dark Pit knew what he had to do at that point…He would find a way to save Pit, no matter what it cost him…

_Next Time: …_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Scorched Feathers**

It was a dark time for Palutena…Not even being possessed by the Chaos Kin was as bad as what was going on now. Pit had lost his wings in an attempt to save Dark Pit's life, and the pain brought on by this process was putting him on the verge of death. Though not as bad, the fact that Riku was also unconscious after a combination of being poisoned by the Chaos Vortex and overusing his energy didn't help the situation, especially since this left only Dark Pit around to stop Hades.

But in a moment of humility, even Dark Pit admitted that he wouldn't be able to take Hades on his own. Thus, Palutena knew she had no choice except to resort to a fabled location. The only problem with her idea was that it required delving deep into the Underworld in order to reach it. Owing his survival to Pit, Dark Pit didn't hesitate at all to suggest that he go into the Underworld in order to save the real Pit.

After carrying his Dark Pit Staff and getting a little healing from Viridi's hot spring, Dark Pit ran for the goddess of nature's magical door and rammed right through it to head out into the depths of the Underworld while proclaiming to let Viridi and Palutena know "I'm moving out!" Activating Pandora's powers to take flight through the skies, Dark Pit finds himself faced with the pale green, foggy landscape of this part of the Underworld, where everything reeked of the stench of death.

"Pit's wings are still burned up. He's not going to last much longer…But I thought of a way to save him." Palutena remarks, followed by Dark Pit remarking in an unsurprised tone "Of course you did." "We both owe Pit, you know that…" Palutena points out in a saddened tone, and Dark Pit just goes silent since he couldn't really argue with that. But then he goes on to ask "All right. Then what's the next step?"

With the Underworld Army starting to put up some resistance with the likes of Belunkas sending swarms of foes against Dark Pit from it's mouth, Dark Pit took up his staff and fired precise shots to take down those in his way, not wasting a single attack despite having infinite ammo. Once Dark Pit had cleared a mountain, Palutena says to him "Go to the City of Souls. It's just a little ways ahead. It's the place where souls make their final passage into death…or back into life."

"Oh I get it! You want to turn back the clock and cheat death." Viridi says all of a sudden, followed by her berating Palutena by mentioning "Raising the dead, keeping the near-dead alive…It's pretty dirty business." "I know the stakes, but we don't have a choice." Palutena remarks, and upon letting their little, rather friendly conversation come to an end Dark Pit says to them in a puzzled tone "Wait, weren't you two at war with each other not too long ago?"

"Don't jump to conclusions! I'm not to petty that I can't extend an olive branch at a time like this." Viridi says rather seriously, followed up by Palutena saying in a very appreciative tone as Dark Pit heads into a forest filled with hollow trees "Thank you Viridi. And thank you for helping Pit when I couldn't…" "Just to let you know, this is NOT a hug-it-out moment." Viridi feels the need to say afterwards.

As Dark Pit finds himself having to traverse past a few Ornes, he feels the need to remark to the two goddesses "Just so you know, this Pit doesn't need your help to fly. So don't think I'm going to kiss-up to you." "Well, if your flight's unlimited, you don't have to battle on land." Palutena says without feeling insulted, and Viridi remarks afterwards "So air battle only? It feels strange to say it, but I'm disappointed."

Dark Pit then continues to fly through the hollow forest without making anymore comments, dealing with the Underworld Army until he exits the forest through a chasm, which leads him to the bright-blue City of Souls, which consisted of a large series of solid crystal pillars, a few of them having some glowing squiggly glyphs. As Dark Pit slowly begins to traverse the city, he remarks in a rather surprised tone "What kind of city is this?"

"It's unlike any earthly city. The spirits of the dead gather here." Palutena explains, followed by Dark Pit stating "So basically, it's the Underworld." "You got it!" A particular voice echoes throughout the Underworld in merry joy after hearing Dark Pit put two-and-two together, and as he passes by a particularly large crystal pillar he sees Hades' gigantic visage looming over the city. "Oh, it's you." Dark Pit says dryly.

"Our hero's looking a little goth today. I hope the stresses of life haven't gotten you down. That would be ever so tragic." Hades says to try and get under Dark Pit's skin, but the black angel bluntly says "No one's listening." As Hades' visage vanishes from the sky, there is a bit of an awkward pause before the Lord of the Underworld laughs and says "It's hilarious how you have no sense of humor! But that sourpuss attitude's gonna give you an ulcer someday, you know. Do you want to be a stiff like Ricky Boy is?"

Hades is promptly ignored by everyone else as Viridi goes on to say "Anyway, Dark Pit, your understanding is correct. The Underworld is where souls go. As you know, Reapers are responsible for carrying souls." "But we have an excess of souls these days. The Reapers can't handle them all!" Hades states, and Dark Pit points out as he deals with some enemies near a wall of crystals "So the excess of souls come here?"

"Yes, though some just fade away. And others are…well…eaten." Palutena says in a rather melancholy tone, while the chipper and callous Hades remarks "Even in the afterlife, it's survival of the fittest!" "That makes sense. The weak are consumed, just like nature intended." Though Viridi was being a bit callous herself, Dark Pit had to admit that she had something of a point.

After that, there was a good amount of silence between all the folks as Dark Pit traverses another crystal wall, but then Hades says to them "So by the by, Ricky Boy is currently unconscious, yes?" "He's resting up in my hot springs. It'll be a while before he'll even wake up though. Why do you care?" Viridi inquires bluntly, followed by Hades saying "So unless anyone has any objections, will I FINALLY be allowed to tell you all a little tale about him?"

"Nobody cares Hades." Dark Pit remarks dryly, and Hades says afterwards "Haha, surely you aren't the least bit curious to know some more about your only 'savior'?" "Excuse me, Hades?" Palutena says, followed by Hades remarking to her "Come now, I hope you weren't expecting Pitty or Pittoo to save the day? Of course, Ricky Boy is no threat to me either."

"…" Everyone was quiet for a moment, followed by Hades stating "I mean, I know all of your little tricks, pretty Palutena. If you think the Three Sacred Treasures will stop me, then you are sorely mistaken. And I know Ricky Boy's weakness, so there's nothing he'll be able to do against me either." "Will you quit sounding so arrogant? You haven't won yet." Viridi says in a rather annoyed tone of voice.

"No, but when the cards are stacked in your favor you tend to enjoy rubbing it in the faces of your enemies." Hades says, followed by him bluntly telling his foes "Personally, I'd love to see you revive Pitty Pat. I'd rather I humiliate him in battle before his demise instead of letting him perish because of the machinations of some bug. But that all depends on how strong of a fighter Pittoo just so happens to be. Can you hope to withstand the might of my Underworld Army?" "I don't know, if a human can defeat your troops, then I don't see myself ever having a problem." Dark Pit says with an arrogant smile on his face.

"Hahaha, we'll see how long that arrogance lasts, Pittoo." Hades says, leaving the conversation alone for the time being as Dark Pit traverses through a small tunnel within a thick crystal structure, which takes him to another part of the City of Souls that has a large chasm going through it. As the area is bathed in a vague purple hue Dark Pit looks into the chasm and swears that he noticed something snake-like moving through it.

"Hmm?" He remarks as he starts to fly closer to the chasm out of curiosity. Along the way, Palutena says to Dark Pit "Remember when I said that some souls get eaten?" Dark Pit feels the realm rumble as he lingers above the chasm, and mere seconds later Viridi remarks "Watch out! Here comes the hideous devourer of souls himself!" The leviathan that Dark Pit noticed then quickly rises up from the chasm and lunges itself at the angel, it's mouth being filled with sharp-fins that act as it's teeth.

As Dark Pit flies back to avoid becoming lunch at the hands of the monster, he sees the appearance of the creature and actually grimaces a bit due to it's bulging, soul-less eyes and bloody looking tentacles spreading across it's leviathan body. "You weren't kidding about the hideous part!" Dark Pit exclaims as he flies away from the Soul Devouring Monster, only for the creature to pursue him with a hungered intent.

"Actually, I think the creature is quite adorable. And souls CAN be very delicious. Luckily, they don't possess personalities of anything like that." Hades remarks, and as Dark Pit tries to gauge the weak point of the leviathan while trying to pay attention to the crystal pillars around the area to prevent slamming into them he says "They don't?" "Of course not! Souls have no more personality than blood or bone. They're just another resource to harvest from living beings." Hades says with the utmost delight in his voice.

"Ugh, could you be anymore callous?" Viridi says in a disgusted tone. "Well, I could try. You know, souls are a bit like taffy. Sweet enough to eat, but pliable enough to mold into any shape I can imagine." Hades replies, which causes both Dark Pit and Viridi to squirm in disgust, with the goddess of nature in particular stuttering out a response of "I don't even…That's just so…Um…Nuh-uh!"

"I'd love to get my hands on Pittooey's soul. So dark, so chewy, so malleable! A powerful spirit like that shouldn't be wasted on Ol' Chomper's lunch." As Hades voices his intentions, it turn out Dark Pit had already figured out the weak-points on the Soul Devouring Monster's body, and shot the bulges apart with charged shots in rather rapid succession. "I'm not becoming anyone's lunch today!" Dark Pit proclaimed as the lack of bulges caused the monster to open it's mouth to reveal one glowing red core.

With one final charged shot to attack the core, Dark Pit managed to destroy it and send a series of explosions through the leviathan's body, which frees the souls that were trapped inside of it's gut. Though no one can say for sure that they will survive much longer, at least it's better than being stuck inside of a monster's gut. As Dark Pit focuses back on ahead, he remarks arrogantly "That wasn't tough at all."

"Hmmm, I wasn't expecting it to be that difficult for you. To be fair, that was the strongest monster I have left on me." Hades remarks, followed by Dark Pit curiously saying "Oh?" "Yes, I don't really care to bring back any of the other commanders that followed that puppet Medusa, especially since poor Thanny was kidnapped by some unknown force three years ago. I'll just have to keep sending my little troops at you then." Upon Hades saying this, Dark Pit finds himself dealing with more Underworld troops, but he was barely phased by the swarm as he took his weapon to them and began firing.

"…So Palutena, do you think Hades is being serious about molding souls into other forms?" Viridi inquires, and Palutena remarks hesitantly "It would explain his nearly endless supply of troops. He's making them out of souls!" "Professor Palutena does it again!" Hades bluntly says with a hint of humor in his voice, and it was at that point that Viridi started to realize the most horrifying aspect of this news "Wait…If that's the case, there's no WAY the Underworld Army could ever lose!"

"Uh…SPOILER ALERT!" Hades says, trying his hardest to contain the laughter he has inside of him. "So let me get this straight…All the lives lost in battle go to building up the Underworld Army…" "You got it. So the more fighting there is, the bigger my army gets. My goodness! It feels wonderful to be on the winning team." Hades says, letting his joy out after hiding the truth from the goddesses for so long. But as usual, Dark Pit was barely phased as he said to Hades "Hold on there, your math is a little off. You might want to break out the Brain Age, pal."

"Think about all the casualties there have been in this war between the gods. If Hades was right, the Underworld would be way more crowded with monsters." Dark Pit remarks as he finishes off a small squadron of Underworld troops, all the while noticing a few odd streams of souls in the sky above. "Then that means that one fallen soldier doesn't equal one new Underworld monster. After all, creating something corporal as a monster would take…" "A TON of souls! …But that's a huge waste! It's…an abomination!" Viridi exclaims with the utmost disgust in her voice.

"Hahaha…And it's all thanks to your little savior, pretty Palutena. Though I shouldn't discount Ricky Boy here…He's been quite the help to my cause for years, and he doesn't even know it!" Hades remarks arrogantly, but Dark Pit says "Yeah, like we're going to let you get away with this sickening behavior. We'll stop you, Hades." This apparently set Hades off, as his visage rises up in front of Dark Pit's path, all the while the Lord of the Underworld got angry for the first time as he proclaimed "You poor deluded things! No one can stop me! Not in MY realm!"

Hades' visage then displays his power by attacking the large white crystal near Dark Pit, cutting it in half and causing the top part to fall towards the black angel, forcing him to recoil back to avoid it while grunting out in pain from the aftershock of Hades' power. "Don't let him get under your skin!" Palutena advises in a concerned tone, and Dark Pit remains brave as he proclaims "Not a problem!" and brightens the glow on his wings in order to fly forth at a faster speed, where he breaks past Hades' visage and leaves the City of Souls behind him completely.

"It's been great touring the City of Souls and all, but we're here to save Pit, right?" Dark Pit remarks in an annoyed toned, showing little care towards Hades' display of strength. "Hey, there's no need to cop and attitude, just keep going forward!" Palutena bluntly tells Dark Pit off for his rudeness, and Hades says to them both in his usual callousness "Get a room, lovebirds."

With Hades making his presence scarce, Dark Pit decides to follow the streams of souls he saw earlier until he reaches something very unnatural. There was a whirlpool of souls amassed within the void of the Underworld, and as Palutena explains "This WAS a stream of souls. But so many lives have been lost that it's now a torrent. All souls need to find their final resting place down here so that life can spring anew. That's part of the natural cycle of life. But Hades keeps playing with souls. He won't let them rest. His bloodlust has thrown everything off balance…"

Dark Pit stares in disgust at the torrent of souls as he glides around it for a bit, but his disgust quickly turns to anger as Viridi says "It's like humans disrupting the balance on Earth! It's unforgivable!" Immediately, Dark Pit exclaims "You have GOT to be kidding me! ALL you gods and your stupid wars are the ones throwing everything off balance!" "You little nothing! How dare you!" Viridi exclaims in an extremely offended tone right away.

"…He may have a point. We have the Underworld Army out to hoard souls. We have the Forces of Nature trying to wipe out humanity. We have the humans continuing to exploit nature and each other. And we have us-gods-who drag the entire world into our power struggles." As Palutena makes this incredibly important speech, Dark Pit flies into a vortex past the torrent of souls that leads into a thicket of bending, crystal thorns in a much brighter part of the Underworld.

"…" Dark Pit took Palutena's words into consideration as she went on to say "But it doesn't matter how this started. Now we know who's profiting from it." "Hades! Left unchecked, he threatens us all." Viridi exclaims. "Then we have to take him down with all we got!" Dark Pit exclaims in a very fired up manner, but he's cooled down by Viridi reminding him "But to do that, we're going to need Pit's help. Let's get him patched up."

"…You know…I'm glad you finally…have your priorities straight…Viridi…" After long enough without saying anything, Riku finally joins in on the conversation, though he was still very weak from the exposure to the Chaos Vortex. "Well look who finally decided to wake up." Dark Pit says in a dry tone of voice. "Hey, don't strain yourself Riku, just keep relaxing in the hot springs and don't say a single word." Viridi quickly says.

"But-" "No! No 'buts', 'ans' or 'ifs'! This is what you get for being a suicidal idiot back in the Chaos Vortex." Viridi stops Riku from doing anything by reminding him of his mistake, but after a moment of silence Riku says "…So Pit lost his wings…right? …I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…wasted energy on the Chaos Kin…I didn't have the right to kill him myself…And now Dark Pit is going through all this trouble…"

"What trouble? Everything has been a breeze so far. Viridi is right, just sit back, shut up, and let us handle this for now." Dark Pit remarks, and after a tired sigh Riku says "…Forgive me…Oh, and Palutena…I'm glad you're alive…" "I do appreciate you helping Pit out as well, Riku. You could've abandoned us at any time, but you stuck around…" Palutena says, which causes Riku to feel a twinge of happiness in his heart before he quieted himself.

By this point, Dark Pit passes the forest of thorns and reaches a very wide-open expanse of nothingness, where the only thing in sight was a small spring suspended high in the air with a beautiful but small crystal pillar. "Up ahead is the Rewind Spring. That's where you need to go. I'll bring him in right next to you." Palutena says, and as Dark Pit flies above the Rewind Spring Viridi starts to explain "As the name implies, the Rewind Spring can return things to their original states. But if you soak for too long, it'll rewind things too far, and that can get…weird."

With a great understanding of what the Rewind Spring could do, Dark Pit uses a burst of speed to fly down toward the pristine Rewind Spring. Once he lands on the ground, he took the time he had to look at the waters of the Rewind Spring. But when he peers into the edge of the water, he suddenly finds himself covered in a field of dark electricity that deals quite a bit of pain to his body. As he is jolted into the air for a moment, some fragments of spiritual energy emerge from his body and fly straight into the Rewind Spring.

"WHAT is going on here?!" Viridi says in an incredibly confused tone of voice. She would soon find the answer to her question, as to the shock of everyone watching, the goddess of calamity Pandora was revived from the Rewind Spring, rising up and ignited herself with red spiritual fire as she said merrily "Well that worked out perfectly." Dark Pit pushes himself off the ground while feeling a slight amount of pain, mumbling out bitterly towards Pandora "Ugh…You again!"

"Did Pandora seriously just use the Rewind Spring to bring herself back?!" Viridi exclaims with the utmost surprise in her voice. "Of course. You can thank Dark Pit for bringing me here. He was a rebellious servant, though it seems he still served my purposes in the end. But that little parasite DID steal my powers. And for that, he must pay! Your freeloading days are o-" Dark Pit, letting Pandora monologue for as long as she did, allows himself to catch his breath before he leaps at Pandora and kicks her right in the face with all of his might.

"OW!" Pandora exclaims as Dark Pit recoils off of her face and lands back on the edge of the Rewind Spring. Pandora widens her eyes after recovering from the kick and says in a very irritated tone "You little pest! Time to exterminate you!" Suddenly, Pandora leaps into the Rewind Spring once more, confusing everyone that was observing her behavior. As the Rewind Spring glows, all of a sudden a person rises up from the waters.

IT was a shapely female with hair colored like Pandora's flames. She wore a form-fitting white and violet outfit that exposed quite a bit of skin, and she seemed to have a penchant for showing herself off as she lifted one of her legs up high before she crossed it over the other, all the while Viridi and Palutena both expressed in confusion "WHAAAAAAAT?!" Meanwhile, Dark Pit just glances at the woman and says "Who is that?"

The woman giggles youthfully as she explains "It's the new improved me." She feels the hair behind her with both hands before flying around a bit in the air and saying with a relieved tone "Ahh…It's been so long since I've had a body! Eat your hearts out, ladies!" With a wink of her right eye, the woman who was quite obviously Pandora reborn draws out a blue blade that seemed to look a bit like Riku's in the sense that it had a helix-like shape to it.

As Dark Pit continues to find himself confused by this whole event, he is brought to remember that he was in the middle of a fight as Pandora takes her right hand to her lips and blows a prismatic heart at him. Dark Pit shoots the prismatic heart down and then fires attacks at Pandora, who is so nimble that she glides around them just to show off. "SOMEONE is overcompensating!" Viridi exclaims in a jealous tone, something that Palutena calls her out for as she says "Feeling a little inadequate, Viridi?"

As Pandora fires off some more prismatic hearts along with a volley of mini orbs, she takes a moment to clasp her hands together and say arrogantly "Of course she is. You should too! Just LOOK at me!" "…I liked her better when she was an evil blob." Palutena remarks right away, and Viridi still fails to hide her jealousy as she says "She's still an evil blob underneath. She just has better hair, that's all."

"…How could we go from serious conversations to a cat fight so easily…" Riku dryly remarks in the background of this all. Dark Pit runs at Pandora while firing shots with his staff, but the goddess surrounds herself in a cocoon of energy and warps away from his line of fire, appearing behind him with sword drawn and a mischievous look in her eyes. However, her premature giggling gave her away, allowing Dark Pit to turn around and swing his staff to defend himself from the gentle sword swing from Pandora.

"You aren't even trying." Dark Pit remarks in an unimpressed tone as he takes a step back after the clashing of weapons and lifts his staff up to fire a charged shot at Pandora. Pandora floats back and summons a harder prismatic heart to absorb the attack, giggling while putting a couple fingers near her lips and remarking "I'm having SUCH a fun time here! Let me play with you a little while longer before I destroy you!"

"…No." Dark Pit dryly remarks before he takes his staff and fires another charged shot, which pierces through the prismatic heart and goes right through Pandora's body, leaving no scars on her body but causing her eyes to widen before she suddenly drops to the floor seemingly in pain. Dark Pit assumed that he had achieved victory against Pandora and turned around while remarking "Now that that's over with…"

When Dark Pit had lowered his guard, Pandora opens her eyes and giggle quietly before lifting herself up and proclaiming "Just kidding!" With a spin of her body Pandora fires out a series of heart-shaped projectiles, and as Dark Pit turns around to face her he is struck by one of those hearts and finds himself paralyzed by an intense, alluring sensation in his heart. This allows Pandora to get in close and knee Dark Pit in the face, which sends him flying back but simultaneously saves him from Pandora's spell.

Dark Pit thus quickly stands up and uses his staff to avoid being cut by Pandora's sword as she teleports in front of him. The two lock weapons for a bit until Pandora's attention is grabbed by Hades suddenly coming in and saying "Well now, what do we have here?" Pandora's eyes light up as she says in an alluring tone "It's been a while, Lord Hades." Hades clearly didn't recognize the voice or the person as he let out a confused "Hm? And you are…?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten your old friend Pandora." Pandora says in a flirting tone while keeping the pressure on Dark Pit. "I don't remember you being so…animated." Hades says after pausing for a moment to glance over Pandora's body from afar. "That's not even the half of it!" Pandora remarks as she uses her free hand to brush the back of her hair out.

"If the Rewind Spring did this to Pandora, I shudder to think of its effect on Pitty! No one wants to see him in that outfit. I'd better destroy the spring." Hades says, and Palutena blurts out "You can't do that!" "Come on Dark Pit, hurry up and finish this wench!" Viridi exclaims urgently, and Dark Pit says "You don't need to tell me that twice!" Before he lifts his right foot up and kicks Pandora in the stomach to bypass her sword.

And thus the flaw of her new body comes into effect as she now had vulnerable, human body weaknesses that Dark Pit could exploit to defeat her. As Pandora reeled back and grabbed onto her stomach with one hand, Dark Pit pointed his staff forward and said "This time, stay down." Before he fired another charged shot through Pandora's body, this time causing her to dramatically pull her body back and let out a simple "Ow!" before she collapses on the ground in defeat.

Dark Pit, satisfied enough with his victory, turns around and walks off while Viridi remarks "Ummm…Aren't you going to finish her off?" Dark Pit immediately says "What's the point? Just bring Pit down here already before Hades can destroy this place." "You could at least say please." Palutena says in a blunt tone before she nevertheless summons a pillar of light that drops Pit in front of Dark Pit.

Dark Pit picks Pit up and carries him to the edge of the Rewind Spring, where Viridi advises him to only dip his wings in slightly. In doing so, a magical veil of light covers the span of space where Pit's wings would be, and it doesn't take long for them to grow back all good as new. At that point, Pit's eyes open up, and he kicks up onto his feet with his vigor restored entirely as he laughs happily and pumps one fist into the air. But then he looks around and realizes that he didn't know where he was at all. All he saw was Dark Pit, who was satisfied enough with his job that he prepared to leave before things got all lovey-dovey.

As Pit calls out his nickname in surprise, Dark Pit runs for the edge of the Rewind Spring and prepares to take off…Before a quick and panicked descent off the edge of the place makes him realize that he no longer has the ability to fly on his own. "…Without Pandora's powers, Pittoo can't fly on his own." Palutena says, and with a hesitant sigh Viridi summons forth a pillar of light for Dark Pit and remarks "Fine, fine, I'll get him…"

After having a brief chuckle at Dark Pit's predicament, Pit immediately raises his hands up and proclaimed merrily "Lady Palutena! Lady Palutena!" "I'm so glad you're alright…" Palutena said as she summoned forth her own pillar of light on Pit. "I missed you so much!" Pit proclaimed with all of his joy, and with a bit of tearfulness in her voice Palutena said "I missed you too. Let's go home."

As Pit is whisked away back to Skyworld, Riku said to Viridi "Well…I guess once I'm done healing up…I'm heading back to help Pit and Palutena take down Hades…" The goddess of nature remarked "You'd be better off taking off from here once they decide to head off to fight. Skyworld's still in a pretty bad shape, after all…" "…Yeah, I guess you're right. Pit and Palutena don't need me around to bother them while they take some time to relax." Riku says, interpreting Viridi's message to mean that he'd just be a third wheel if he returned.

But now that Pit was back in action, the fight against Hades was not far away…

_Next Time: Hades' Reveals the Truth_


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Lord of the Underworld**

Everyone spent a couple days resting after Pit had been revived via the Rewind Spring. Palutena, now able to control her Centurions once more, used them to start rebuilding Skyworld. Three years worth of damage were not going to go away in an instant, but at least the place didn't look nearly as desolate as it was under the Chaos Kin's control. The sun was coming back, and the skies being blue brought hope to the humans down below. Understandably though, they still held some contempt towards Palutena for what had happened.

Pit was kept in Skyworld to do a little more healing and other preparations before the battle with Hades arrived, leaving Viridi to send out her forces and pick up the slack for Palutena's Army. Though Viridi did end up noting the irony in her helping the humans out after all she had done to try and destroy them. Riku was kept at Viridi's base for those couple of days, though he did fully heal after the first day, which allowed him a chance to spend the next day thinking about how he was going to deal with Hades.

He was considering breaking his interference rule again simply because of how despicable Hades' actions were, but what stopped him was the reminder that letting himself lose control of his emotions nearly cost him his life just to destroy the Chaos Kin, a creature who he had no personal reason to hate. He would keep things under control and just fight Hades alongside Pit, letting things play out and interfering only when things went different than expected.

And now that the Chaos Kin was out of the way, Riku decided to go back to his stoic emotional state, which Viridi remarked that she preferred, albeit pointing out that it wasn't saying much. Dark Pit wasn't seen at all after he was extracted from the Rewind Spring area, most likely because he was trying to avoid contact with anyone else while attempting to fly on his own again…To no avail, as Viridi mentioned.

Thus, the day for the final battle against Hades arrived. Viridi opened a magical door for Riku to enter and join up with Pit in the Underworld, mentioning to him that she would only help out if things got really bad. Riku once again thanked Viridi for the hospitality before he left through the door, where he immediately joined up with Pit, who was equipped with the Three Sacred Treasures once more.

The two flew into an orange sky filled with lightning filled clouds, and are assaulted by a futile assault from the Underworld Army. Riku went into his Light Form without hesitation and listened in as Palutena spoke to him and Pit "Today is the final battle against Hades. Are you two ready?" Pit nods his head while firing off arrows of light and saying "I am SO ready! I carbo-loaded and everything!" Riku remarks stoically "We'll do our best together, Pit. But glad to hear you're confident."

Pit glances at Riku for a moment and says in a disappointed tone "Aw, you're back to being stoic…" Riku says with a raise of his eyebrows "You should've known that was going to be a temporary thing." "I guess so…But still, when you were being a little more emotional you were joking a bit, you smiled…You got really angry at the Chaos Kin, but I don't think that was going to be a common thing after he was destroyed. I don't know, it just feels like you should still use your emotions more often, Riku."

Riku and Pit were quiet towards each other after that until Palutena said to them both "In any case…Hades has overstepped his boundaries by exploiting and desecrating souls. He's disrupted the balance between the earth, the heavens, and the Underworld. He must be stopped. BOTH of you must stop him. It's a tall order, but if anyone can do it, I have faith that you can!" Pit then confidently raises his bow up and proclaims "In the name of the heavens, the earth, the humans, and the souls bound for the afterlife…I WILL defeat Hades!"

"Then go forth, Pit!" Plautena exclaims before using her powers to speed up Pit's flight as he dives down past the clouds towards the desolate lands of the Underworld. Riku follows him while saying to Palutena "I guess I can't really top that enthusiasm. You know where I stand anyways, Palutena. But this time, I know we will both trust each other." "Yeah, I won't let something like the Chaos Kin situation happen again. Next time you warn me about something, I'll listen, Riku." Palutena remarks honestly.

Riku nods his head afterwards and says to her "Good then. We're in for a rough battle Pit, but so long as you keep your head cool we'll triumph over Hades eventually." After directing his comment to the young angel, Riku positions himself beside Pit as the two of them descend towards a chasm in the Underworld. "I won't be overconfident. I got just the right level of confidence inside of me now that Lady Palutena is back to normal!" Pit proclaims.

"…And having your wings back probably helped a lot." Riku points out, to which Pit quickly nods his head in agreement. Pit then raised his eyebrows and asked "Oh by the way Lady Palutena, where is Hades' castle exactly?" "Oh, Hades doesn't have a castle." Palutena quickly replies, to which Pit says in a rather surprised tone "Seriously? The lord of the Underworld can't even afford a roof over his head?"

"No no, that's not it. This is his realm, so he could be anywhere in this darkness. Or everywhere." Palutena explains as Pit and Riku enter a cavern filled with crystals, Komaytoes, and Ornes. "Then…what's the plan?" Pit inquires. "Just stay alert, Pit. I can sense Hades' presence in this very realm." Palutean replies, which doesn't exactly fill Pit with confidence as he remarks "Umm…Could you be a little more specific?"

"I can sense Hades' movements in the darkness, Pit. We're going to run into him soon, so prepare to raise your Mirror Shield." Riku remarks as he and Pit start to encounter some strange glowing symbols within a barely lit, crimson rock tunnel. "Well that helps a bit, thanks Riku." Pit says, though one could hear him gulp a bit of saliva out of nervousness as he focuses on the path ahead.

After flying for a few more seconds, the symbols slowly start to vanish from the darkness, and Pit finds his heart pumping as he glances around in search of Hades. Riku holds his katana out in front of him and slants his eyebrows, and was thus prepared when all of a sudden Hades appeared from the darkness with his brimming grin and proclaimed "Hello there!" Making the first move right after by pulling back on his body and throwing his right fist out at Pit and Riku.

Pit, having been given a warning by Riku beforehand, is able to take his Mirror Shield and swing it out to block Hades' powerful forward punch alongside Riku. Even so, the strength of Hades' attack pushed both of them back pretty far through the air, enough in fact that they were now seeing the titanic Hades in all of his evil glory. The Lord of the Underworld laid one hand on the left hip and seemed pretty nonchalant as he said to the heroes "I've been so looking forward to your arrival, Pitty Pat. And I cannot forget you either, Ricky Boy."

Firming his expression, Pit proclaims "Hades!" Hades responds by proclaiming "Pit!" Followed by Pit quickly exclaiming "Hades!" Hades follows up by a slightly louder sounding "Pit!" And Pit tries to one-up Hades by saying in a drawn out manner "Hadeeees!" only for Hades to meet him halfway through by saying "Piiiiiitttt!"

But once this greeting was out of the way, Pit swung both shield and bow out to the sides and proclaimed in-sync with Hades "It's ON!" However, as Pit starts firing arrows of light at Hades, the Lord of the Underworld just smiles and doesn't budge an inch from his current position. He sends out waves of enemies to block Pit's attacks from hitting him, which frustrated the young angel as he tried his hardest to move around and get past the enemies. Riku didn't make any advance on Hades yet until he knew the time was right. He cautiously glared at the Lord of the Underworld until he lifted one hand up against his chin and said in a curious, unconcerned tone "Oh? Is that the Three Sacred Treasures I spot on you, Pitty?"

Angrily, Pit proclaims to Hades "Even your darkness can't escape from the light!" Humored, Hades lowers his arm while remarking "Now isn't that just…" Before suddenly thrusting his head forward and letting out a swirling torrent of darkness from his mouth and exclaiming the word "PRECIOUS!" to finish off his earlier remark. The attack strikes Pit before he can react, sending him tumbling back with the worst possible thing having occurred…

The Three Sacred Treasures had been shattered, leaving nothing but the newly-created Palutena Bow for Pit to wield in his right hand. As Pit recovers from the attack, Hades proclaims happily "Now that felt good!" "No, not the Three Sacred Treasures!" Palutena proclaims in a very concerned tone of voice, which causes Pit to flip his head back and forth and notice the lack of the Treasures on him while proclaiming in a panic "What?! NO!"

Hades chuckles and says callously "Hmm, not so tough now, are you?" The Lord of the Underworld then decides to fight, starting off by throwing his right arm out at Pit to send out a flurry of punches at him. Riku quickly flies in front of Hades and uses his katana to channel his light out and summon a shield to protect Pit. Though Hades' immense strength means the barrier falls after two punches.

"Keep focused Pit, we can still harm him!" Riku states while swinging his sword out, but before they can get a chance to go on the offensive Hades suddenly warps behind them both with his right arm raised as he proclaims "Over here!" Hades successfully swings his arm down as the two heroes turn around and try to get out of the way, and the force of Hades' attack blows the two away from each other while dealing some damage.

Hades then warps beside Pit and says in a taunting tone "Having fun yet, Pitty Pat?!" Pit turns at the Lord of the Underworld and proclaims "Oh shut up already!" Before he takes his bow and fires a heavenly charged shot from it right between the center of Hades' eyes. Hades grimaces slightly, humorously laughing before he remarks "That felt like a flea bite. I hope I won't catch a disease from that."

Hades fails to notice the light glow of golden light coming from the spot where Pit's arrow struck, which proves to be bad for him as Riku quickly flies towards his forehead and uses his katana to stab right into the light with all of his might, using all of his strength in the attack to pierce through Hades' skin and cause an eruption of golden light. Riku quickly pulls his sword out as Hades rears his head back and lets out a brief grunt of pain.

Hades lays one hand on his head to try and cover the wound while Riku joins back up with Pit, floating in front of him while holding his katana out and saying "Brace yourself." "Huh, why?" Pit inquires, when all of a sudden Hades lifts himself up and removes his hand from his face while looking relatively unharmed. "You know what you two? You're looking mighty tasty! DOWN THE HATCH!" Hades then suddenly opens his mouth up and sucks inward, creating a powerful vacuum of air to try and drag Pit and Riku into his body.

"No no no no no!" Pit exclaims as he's unable to keep himself braced in the air, which causes him to be thrown past Riku and sent straight into Hades' mouth. Palutena desperately proclaims "Get out of there, Pit!" But Hades closes his teeth once Pit was deep within his body, letting out an echoing and satisfied sounding gulp. Once Hades was done, he took his fingers to his lips and gave a few smacks with them, saying to Riku and Palutena "Mmmm, that was a delicious little morsel. Maybe a little burnt and boney, but otherwise serviceable."

Riku glanced at Hades from afar in a somewhat horrified manner while Palutena proclaims desperately "Pit? Pit? Pit?! You monster! Spit him out now!" Hades folds his arms together and says "Oh relax, Palutena, your little angel is safe and sound within my reinforced gullet…for now. But you won't be contacting him ever again, I've made sure of that." Hades then glances down at Riku with a smile and says "So, little Ricky Boy, would you like to try and take a shot at me now? Your puny little Light Form won't work on me as well as it did against Medusa, just to give you a fair warning."

"Riku, don't bother fighting him! He destroyed the Three Sacred Treasures and swallowed Pit! We have to retreat and come up with a better plan!" Palutena exclaims, but Riku responds by swinging his katana at Hades and saying "I'm not retreating, Palutena. Pit will be perfectly fine." "You aren't strong enough Riku! Just run!" Palutena exclaims, which strikes a bit of a nerve for the teenage Overlord before he says to her "Just trust me Palutena! Pit will be safe! In fact, I'll do you one better…"

Discarding his prior notion of not taking the glory, Riku takes his katana out in front of the center of his body and concentrates on the light and darkness within his spirit. He calms himself, focusing on the energies as they wrap around his body like a cocoon of black and white. Hades grins at the event unfolding before his eyes, and he pulls his arms out and watches as the cocoon shatters. Riku floats in the air wearing a sleek black suit of armor that fits perfectly with his body. Angelic feathers lay across his arms from the wrists back, and halos acted as the wristbands for those feathers. He had a gilded katana in one hilt and a thick, curved dagger in the other, and on his back were two pairs wings of demonic and angelic origin. His hair remained the same, but his eyes have changed to yellow for the right and pure white for the left.

"Y-You were holding this much power back the whole time?" Palutena says in a taken aback tone, and Riku doesn't say a word back to her at first as he draws both katana and dagger from his hilts, staring up at Hades with subdued confidence on his face. "Palutena, I will slay Hades here and now and rescue Pit from his body myself." Hades then starts to clap his hands together suspiciously, his grin still present on his face as he began to say "So this is your legendary Chaos Form. I must admit, even I am somewhat impressed that you managed to tame both light and darkness, Ricky Boy."

Riku flinches for a moment once Hades mentions the name of his form, and once the Lord of the Underworld was done talking he said "I'm not even going to question how you know about this, but that doesn't matter now." "You're quite right. It's not time for ol' Hades to spill the beans, especially when I have a gnat to crush!" Hades responds fiercely to Riku's change in forms by thrusting his open right hand at the boy and closing his fingers tightly around him.

Instead of using his speed to dodge Hades' attack, Riku quickly points one his katana above himself and creates a sphere of light energy that is molded to fit underneath Hades' fingers, tricking the Lord of the Underworld into thinking he was successful in gripping Riku. Hades' grin would soon fade though as Riku took both his sword and dagger and rapidly slashed the area around his body, sending out thin waves of energy that slice through his barrier and cut into Hades' skin.

The Lord of the Underworld quickly pulls his arm away, causing Riku's barrier to shatter as the boy thrusts both of his weapons directly in front of his body to send two larger waves of darkness and light at Hades' scarred hand. The attacks move fast enough that Hades warps away right as the edge of the waves slice through his weakened hand, leaving it split into three parts once he reappears off to the right of Riku. Between each part leaked out darkness from within Hades' body, and as Hades heals this off he shakes his hand and remarks nonchalantly "That hurt."

Riku didn't take the bait of Hades' nonchalance as he slanted his eyebrows and flew right at him. This time around the Lord of the Underworld was a little more prepared as he coated his right hand in a thin layer of souls and lifted it up in front of his face, predicting the very second Riku would be before him and using his shielded palm to block Riku's attempt at cutting his face. Hades then takes all of the souls gathered and uses them to fuel an attack, gathering them all into an imperfect ball shape and firing it point-blank at Riku.

The soul fireball carries Riku a fair distance away from Hades, but Riku stops the attack by slicing it carefully apart with his katana, making certain that not a single soul is harmed once he was free from the attack. He took a little bit of damage, but didn't change his expression as he thought to himself _"Go free, souls of the departed…" _But his plan to save the souls seemed foiled as Hades quickly opened his mouth and prepared to suck them all back in.

But Riku takes advantage of this opening to mentally send his katana at Hades' mouth, making it zip back and forth around the souls at light speed until it could go straight for Hades' throat. However, the Lord of the Underworld warped away before the sword could hit him, appearing behind Riku and immediately throwing down a karate chop with his right hand to strike at the top of Riku's head before he can turn around and defend himself.

The strike knocks Riku downward and slightly chips his armor, but he recovers quickly enough and holds his right arm back in order to quickly call his katana back into his grasp. As Hades lowers himself so the two are face-to-face, Riku raises his katana in front of his face and ignites it with holy light, then uses the hook of his dagger to pull back on the light like it was the string of a bow. The dagger tore open the dimension, creating an arrow-shaped rift between the sword and the string of light.

Hades was intrigued by what Riku was planning to unleash, but also exercised enough caution to warp away before he could be hit. Riku was waiting for Hades to vanish from sight though, as he spent the time in place to lock-on to Hades' energy signature before letting go of the dagger from the rift, which causes it to slowly shrink down while releasing a series of arrows of both light and darkness from the rift that curve behind Riku and home-in on Hades' presence the moment he reappears.

"Oh dear…" Hades remarks in a tone of surprise before he takes both of his fists and rapidly thrusts them out in front of his body to punch through the arrows coming at him. This only managed to deal with the attacks going for his chest. The rest of the arrows strike at his legs and head, a couple managing to pierce through Hades' kneecaps, which was painful enough to stop him from using his fists anymore as he leans forward and lets out a grunt of pain.

Riku turns around and faces Hades, holding both weapons in his hands as the Lord of the Underworld gets up and heals the wounds to his legs and face. Hades then clapped his hands together and said in a very impressed tone "I'm honestly quite surprised, Ricky Boy. You're making me use quite a number of souls in order to heal myself. But even so, I can tell we are almost quite equal in strength."

Riku doesn't say anything towards Hades, causing the Lord of the Underworld to raise one hand onto his chin and remark "I must admit, I was expecting you to just run away from my might, even with the strength you possess." Riku still doesn't say anything, causing Hades to fold his arms together and say with a smile "Oh well, I suppose not everyone can be as frightening as good ol' Demise."

The name Hades mentioned makes Riku suddenly freeze in shock, his eyes widening well within Hades' line of sight. The Lord of the Underworld raises his eyebrows with a slightly agape mouth and forced look of awkwardness before he remarks "Oh I'm sorry, did I say something confidential? My apologies, but I think it's too late to take that one back now." Riku, for the first time this battle, grits his teeth and says "How could you possibly know about him?"

"Are you serious? Why do you goodie two-shoe heroes never try and figure stuff out on your own? It's always up to us wiser villains to explain things out to the very last detail. But you know what, I honestly can't expect the puppet to understand just how many strings he has attached to his body. Pay attention Ricky Boy, because I've been waiting to spill the beans on this one for quite a while now." Hades flicks his right wrist out at the end of his sentence before laying both hands beside his hips.

Riku was hesitant to listen, but there was another part of him that desired to know just what Hades knew. "Riku, don't listen to him. He's just going to try and trick you!" Palutena warns, and Riku says quickly "That's for me to judge, Palutena." Hades then remarks to the teenage Overlord "Bravo, Ricky Boy. I'm glad you are willing to hear me out, because we are going to be here for a page or two."

"So first off, I'm fairly certain you are aware of those 'higher-ups'. Good? Good. Now then, those three beings sit on their divine pedestals and govern the universe, blah blah blah, a bunch of stuff you don't really need to care about…Lets skip right to the interesting part. The universe is split up into four sections, each one designated by a different direction. The Earth you were born on along with all the planets you've gone to so far are part of the Southern section of the universe."

Hades spoke rather quickly, but the information was still being processed within Riku's mind with ease, whether he liked it or not. Hades gestures out with his right hand and says "You're keeping up with me so far? Good, I will not repeat myself. Now, the Elemental Overlord and the Dark King are meant to counteract each other as a means of preventing one from going out of control. But what I know you DIDN'T know is that the 'higher-ups' set up a secondary defensive measure on the off-chance that one of the controllers of light or darkness died but not the other."

"In each section of the universe exists one being meant to deal with the Elemental Overlord or Dark King should nothing else prove capable of doing so. Each of us are informed on everything that you do so we will not be taken off-guard if you inevitably come to our planets, hence why I know about your little bout with big bad Demise."

Riku arches his eyebrows and says to Hades "So what, are you going to try and kill me because the 'higher-ups' told you to? What have I done to deserve death in their eyes?" Hades scoffs at the accusation before brandishing one finger out and saying "What have you done? Why Ricky Boy, you existed, that's all there is to it. From what I've been told, there was only supposed to be two reincarnations of the Elemental Overlord, your brother and the original reincarnation, Alex Whiter. The 'higher-ups' have been playing it safe with you so far, but now they think that you are going to end up being a threat with how quickly your power is growing. A clone of a clone…The exponential power increases coming from your training and your specific genetic code are dangerous, Ricky Boy."

"…What?" Riku now expressed confusion at everything Hades was saying, causing him to respond by rubbing the back of his head and saying in a disbelieving tone "You seriously aren't getting it? Well, I don't want to confuse you too much, so let me just go and address the other question you had. No Ricky Boy, I'm NOT going to kill you. That would be very counterproductive to my goals."

Riku goes silent this time around, and Hades folds his arms together and says to him "Let me just say something. None of the four of us chose to help the 'higher-ups' out of our own free will. We all were allowed to make one request of the 'higher-ups', but we also had to agree to not try and conquer or destroy the universe ourselves in exchange. Now, here comes the best part about all this, Ricky Boy…Let's start from the very beginning of your journey, shall we?"

"In Hyrule, your failure to stop Demise's return caused the Hero of Time to perish in battle, and with your departure from the world Demise went on a rampage that took the lives of thousands before he was stopped. And even then wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom perished as well. Oh, I can't even begin to imagine what happened to the Six Sages afterwards either…Oh wait, yes I can, but that's getting a little ahead of ourselves."

"Next up, you and that bounty hunter stopped Dark Samus' Phazon from fully corrupting multiple worlds. But not all life survived the Phazon's initial release, but the fact that it was dealt with meant that the spirits were no longer tethered to the planet. Not to mention you destroyed Phaaze, a living planet…"

"On puny little Pop Star, the act of Dark Matter being brought there once more thanks to your folly caused the regenerative cycle of multiple creatures to be broken by Dark Matter's otherworldly powers, leading to the permanent demise of thousands."

"Amazingly enough, that hedgehog's world was the one world where you made a difference by being there. Though it's a pity that you did. Nazo would've made a much greater puppet than you ever were."

"Next up, we got good ol' Aselia, where by preventing the diversion in the timeline by reviving the one called Lloyd you allowed that pest Mithos to finally be eliminated. And thus plenty of those soul-binding Exspheres will eventually be destroyed by the combined efforts of Lloyd and his foolish father. Now let me ask you at this point, what do all of these worlds have in common with one another, Ricky Boy?"

Riku is given a chance to think about everything that Hades has said so far, and he sinks his head slightly to contemplate all facts one after the other. After a while, Riku notices a key pattern in everything Hades mentioned, which causes his eyes to slowly widen in disbelief until he got to the part about the Exspheres, where he pieces it all together, but the very idea of what Hades' was suggesting could not be believed by mere words alone.

Riku glares at Hades and says to him "You didn't…There's no way to prove that you did something that monstrous!" As though he expected this outcome, Hades extends his right palm out and summons forth a golden colored soul, which happened to be marked with a familiar three golden triangles. "Is this good enough for you, Ricky Boy? The soul of the Hero of Time, right in my possession."

Riku's expression then slowly breaks down into a horrified look, the presence of that particular soul drawing out traumatic memories that Riku thought he had long since overcame. While Riku's stoicism began to break, Hades dispelled the golden soul and laid both hands against his hips while leaning forward and taunting Riku callously with "Has the truth finally caught up with you, Ricky Boy? Good, because here's the clincher for this truth of mine…"

Hades then pulls back on his body and brandishes one finger at Riku, smirking happily as he said "My request to the 'higher-ups' was that all souls that depart from the mortal body in this section of the universe would be given to me. And you, Ricky Boy, have been responsible for providing me with thousands of souls. So tell me, why would I bother to kill you when you have provided me with more of a profit than any of my underlings?"

Riku starts panting, his heart straining as all this information was proving to be overwhelming to his body. "Riku! Snap out of it! He has to be tricking you! Come on, you're the only chance we have of saving Pit and stopping Hades!" Palutena desperately says to try and snap Riku out of his vapid state, but Hades quickly counteracts Palutena's attempts by saying "Uh uh uh, pretty Palutena. Why would you ever want to put your hopes in the hands of this little failure? A liar and a murderer deserves nothing more than contempt."

"Shut up Hades! You're the biggest liar and murderer of them all!" Palutena exclaims in a bitter rage, and Hades lays one hand on his chest and remarks "Why thank you, I'm quite flattered. But seriously, you really don't know the whole story here with Ricky Boy. Speaking of lies, I forgot two more little facts about our little monster here."

"One…All reincarnations of the Elemental Overlord are supposed to have perfectly in-depth knowledge of all worlds they are going to be traveling to. In order to easily do this, the 'higher-ups' manipulated the history of the Earth the reincarnation would be born on to create things called 'video games' that are based on more than half of the worlds in the universe. Then, the reincarnation would be put into a situation where they would get all the information from these 'video games', and said information would be passed on to the clones when they are made. In other words, Ricky Boy has always known everything that was going to happen on this world before he ever arrived here!"

Hades proudly proclaimed the truth so Palutena would not be able to ignore it, and the goddess of light stuttered out "W-What?" As the Lord of the Underworld then starts to walk towards Riku, he smiles and remarks "Of course, you aren't the only one guilty of hiding information from your so-called allies, Ricky Boy. Little rosebud has neglected to mention this, bless her heart…But guess what? She's not here to stop me this time."

Leaning down so his big mouth is close to Riku's ears, Hades whispers to him while trying to contain his laughter "You weren't just used as a guardian of Skyworld when the Chaos Kin was controlling your body…Oh no, that little bug knew the value of your body…So naturally, it only makes sense that he'd use your body along with Pitty Pat's to slaughter the humans. It's such a shame you didn't bother to communicate what you knew about the Chaos Kin to your so-called allies, isn't it?"

Hades then pulls himself back and turns around, brushing one hand against his chest while saying with a smirk "Well then, I think my job here is done. Quite proud of my work, if I must be honest." But before he can walk off very far, a snap of power pulsates through the Underworld, causing Hades to glance back at Riku over his right shoulder. The teenage Overlord was sparking with black electricity, his radiant aura mixing in with the energy to create a chaotic and terrifying presence around his entire body. His eyes were leaking with black and white light, making his vision look pale.

Riku then strained to open his mouth as his muscles were tense as can be, letting out an echoing roar of "HAAAAAAADEEEEEEEESSS!" Which mixed in with a dragon's roar to create a shockwave of sound throughout the entirety of the Underworld. But Hades wasn't at all scared as he remarked "You hero types are so predictable it's quite boring, honestly." Riku then charges straight at Hades with just his bare fists, but the Lord of the Underworld quickly puts an end to his charge by turning around and swatting him away with the back of his right hand.

With just some of his strength, Hades manages to do what he couldn't before and put some cracks in Riku's armor. But Riku doesn't care about this as he quickly recovers from the backhand and flies right back at Hades to try and slaughter him with pure force. But this time Hades chuckles and responds to Riku's charge by taking both of his hands and clapping them together, catching Riku like he was a fly midway through his charge.

Riku's armor thus cracked further, his wings being mangled and bloodied by Hades' raw power. Hades lets go of the teenage Overlord and then warps away when Riku immediately thrusts one hand forward to unleash a burst of energy of light and darkness. From the side, Hades punches Riku as hard as he wanted to with his right fist, which winded the teenage Overlord and brought his armor to the point of shattering, though the force of the blow was enough to cause damage to Riku's innards.

Riku stumbles back through the air, his angered state quickly being put to a halt as his eyes return to normal and he starts to cough up blood. Hades folds his arms together and remarks "See how easy you forget how your own powers work when you lose control of yourself, Ricky Boy? Your Chaos Form requires a tranquil, neutral state to utilize the full extent of it's powers. And now that I've riled you up, you're nothing more than a nuisance." As Riku lays one hand against his chest and tries to recover from the damage caused on his body, Hades rubs more salt into the wounds by stating "I've been alive for thousands of years, boy. There's no way I'm going to ever be defeated by some upstart like you or Pitty Pat. But like I said before, I'm not going to kill you…Hehehe, this punishment of mine is a far worse fate than death, honestly."

Hades then brandishes one finger at Riku and says with a smug face "Just go ahead and run away now. That's the only thing you've done well in life, after all. Now at this point you're just good for ruining more worlds and getting me more souls. And don't even think about taking your own life, because that means your soul will belong to me, and even a fraction of the Elemental Overlord's powers within a soul is a delectable treat for someone like me. Whew…I must admit, I didn't think I'd be able to say what I wanted to while also mentally speaking to Pitty inside of my body, but you never know you can do something until you try, I guess!"

Hades is about to turn around and leave the area while Riku heavily pants and says "Hades…" repeatedly. But then he's nicked in the back by a projectile, which causes him to turn around and say in a surprised tone "Well, would you look at that?" Behind Riku was a large gathering of Forces of Nature troops, all of them wasting little time in assaulting Hades with projectiles and close-ranged attacks as they swooped in from afar.

"Forward children! Try and open the way to rescue Pit from Hades' vile gut!" Viridi chimes in with all of her authority, but as the projectiles hit Hades he remarks "Oh rosebud, how cute. You will never free that little angel." "We'll see about that! I got many tricks up my sleeves! But first, it's time to get you out of here, Riku!" Viridi then summons her pillar of light around Riku's body to try and call him out of the Underworld, but with a second-wind Riku slams both of his hands against the sides of Viridi's pillar and causes it to shatter apart.

"What are you doing?! You can't win anymore!" Viridi exclaims in disbelief. "You lied to me Viridi…But that doesn't matter now. Hades…Has to be stopped…" Riku lifts his body up and tries to draw both of his weapons out, but finds himself too weak to grip them. But still, he stares up at Hades defiantly and says "…I will kill you…" Hades, while swatting away the Forces of Nature's troops, nonchalantly remarks "Oh I'd loooove to see you try now. Personally, these little pests are more worth my time than you."

Suddenly, while fending off the Forces of Nature, a sharp pain goes through Hades' chest, and a burst of light erupts from it moments later. "Urrggh!" Hades proclaims, and all of a sudden Viridi proclaims "That must be where Pit is! You know what to do!" Then, on command, the Lightning Chariot flies through the skies of the Underworld guided by Dark Pit. Dark Pit pierces right into the light in Hades' chest moments later.

It's not long after that that Dark Pit emerges from Hades' body, carrying Pit on the back of the Lightning Chariot. Hades felt quite a heavy amount of pain as the Lightning Chariot ripped out of him again, and this time he tries to grab at the fleeing angels while proclaiming "That really HURT!" He was quite angry at the angels, but he was not able to do much against them as Palutena quickly summoned a pillar of light to carry them away while proclaiming merrily "Bye Hades!"

Palutena then summoned another pillar of light for Riku, who just completely gave up and let himself get carried away while he reverts to his regular form and collapses onto his face with a depressed look in his eyes. Viridi commanded her troops to retreat, leaving Hades all alone in the Underworld with a somewhat irritated look on his face as the hole in his chest heals up. He rubs one hand against his chest and says "Hmm, it seems Pitty took out my heart. Oh well, at least I'm not dead!" The cheerfulness in Hades' voice echoes throughout the realm.

Folding his arms together, Hades glances forward and says "Now then…Lets see what you do next to humor me, Ricky Boy."

_Next Time: Trials and Tribulations_


End file.
